Case Study Description of George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990
Details a fledgling president's attempt to build an information systems and manage the expertise base of the firm. Intrigued by the potential information technology holds for the construction industry, this general contractor has initiated the overhaul of the firm's information systems, in order to be ready for the "information wave" in the future. Meanwhile, the recession has created new stresses on the core competence of its quality estimating department. Macomber is trying to decide how best to manage the estimating department and what tools will aid in ensuring the future strength of the expertise base. Focuses on the need to understand the nature of expertise in the broader perspective of forming a strategic information-based company.
Swot Analysis of "George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990" written by John J. Sviokla, Audris Wong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Macomber Expertise facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Developing employees, IT, Manufacturing and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macomber Expertise, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macomber Expertise 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macomber Expertise
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Macomber Expertise
Strengths George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macomber Expertise in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Macomber Expertise to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Macomber Expertise to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Macomber Expertise 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 Macomber Expertise in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Macomber Expertise 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
– Macomber Expertise has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Macomber Expertise are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Macomber Expertise is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Macomber Expertise is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Macomber Expertise 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Macomber Expertise in the sector have low bargaining power. George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Macomber Expertise to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Macomber Expertise 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 John J. Sviokla, Audris Wong 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.
High brand equity
– Macomber Expertise has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Macomber Expertise to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macomber Expertise digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macomber Expertise 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.
Weaknesses George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 HBR case study mentions - Macomber Expertise 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Macomber Expertise is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Macomber Expertise needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 Macomber Expertise has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Macomber Expertise 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990, in the dynamic environment Macomber Expertise has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Macomber Expertise has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Macomber Expertise 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. Macomber Expertise 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990, is just above the industry average. Macomber Expertise 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Macomber Expertise 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John J. Sviokla, Audris Wong suggests that, Macomber Expertise 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Macomber Expertise is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 | 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Macomber Expertise to increase its market reach. Macomber Expertise 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Macomber Expertise has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Macomber Expertise to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 case study. Macomber Expertise can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Macomber Expertise 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Macomber Expertise to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Macomber Expertise 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Macomber Expertise can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Macomber Expertise 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macomber Expertise 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 Macomber Expertise to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Macomber Expertise can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Macomber Expertise is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Macomber Expertise 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, George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Macomber Expertise can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Macomber Expertise 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Macomber Expertise can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 are -
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 Macomber Expertise.
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 Macomber Expertise business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Macomber Expertise demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Macomber Expertise can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Macomber Expertise has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Macomber Expertise needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
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 Macomber Expertise in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Macomber Expertise
– 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 Macomber Expertise.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Macomber Expertise 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Macomber Expertise 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Macomber Expertise 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.
Environmental challenges
– Macomber Expertise 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. Macomber Expertise can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Macomber Expertise with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 George B.H. Macomber Co.--1990 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 Macomber Expertise needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
