Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged)
Describes the reorganization of the Systems Development resource from Central MIS to the divisions. Whereas this had been planned for October 1990, unexpected senior management changes precipitated a request to reorganize 12 to 18 months ahead of schedule. Also describes a decision that must be made whether or not to centralize all mainframe processing--even that which had been handled by the London data center--in the Allentown data center. A rewritten version of two earlier cases.
Swot Analysis of "Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged)" written by Donna B. Stoddard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mis Reorganization facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational structure and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption,
increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mis Reorganization, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mis Reorganization 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mis Reorganization
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 Mis Reorganization
Strengths Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mis Reorganization in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mis Reorganization digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mis Reorganization 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mis Reorganization 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mis Reorganization in the sector have low bargaining power. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mis Reorganization to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mis Reorganization 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Mis Reorganization 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 Donna B. Stoddard 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mis Reorganization in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mis Reorganization is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Mis Reorganization 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 Mis Reorganization in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Mis Reorganization is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Mis Reorganization
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mis Reorganization 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 Technology & Operations industry
– Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mis Reorganization to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mis Reorganization to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mis Reorganization 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Mis Reorganization 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Donna B. Stoddard suggests that, Mis Reorganization 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mis Reorganization 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mis Reorganization 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 - Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Mis Reorganization 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Mis Reorganization has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mis Reorganization is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mis Reorganization 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. Mis Reorganization 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mis Reorganization is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Mis Reorganization needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mis Reorganization to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Opportunities Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) | 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mis Reorganization 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. Mis Reorganization 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mis Reorganization 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 Mis Reorganization to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mis Reorganization 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mis Reorganization 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mis Reorganization 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mis Reorganization can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mis Reorganization operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Mis Reorganization can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mis Reorganization to increase its market reach. Mis Reorganization 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mis Reorganization 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, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged), 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 Mis Reorganization in the consumer business. Now Mis Reorganization can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Mis Reorganization 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.
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. Mis Reorganization can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mis Reorganization in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mis Reorganization is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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. Mis Reorganization 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mis Reorganization
– 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 Mis Reorganization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mis Reorganization in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
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 Mis Reorganization business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged), Mis Reorganization may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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 Mis Reorganization.
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 Mis Reorganization in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Mis Reorganization can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mis Reorganization 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mis Reorganization 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) & Project ICON (A) (Abridged) 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 Mis Reorganization needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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