Swot Analysis of "Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book" written by Dorothy Leonard, Carin-Isabel Knoop includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mercer Consulting's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Product development and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mercer Consulting's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mercer Consulting's
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 Mercer Consulting's
Strengths Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mercer Consulting's in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Consulting's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Mercer Consulting's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mercer Consulting's in the sector have low bargaining power. Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mercer Consulting's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mercer Consulting's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mercer Consulting's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mercer Consulting's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mercer Consulting's 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Consulting's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Mercer Consulting's 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 Dorothy Leonard, Carin-Isabel Knoop 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mercer Consulting's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mercer Consulting's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mercer Consulting's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Consulting's 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book HBR case study mentions - Mercer Consulting's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mercer Consulting's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dorothy Leonard, Carin-Isabel Knoop suggests that, Mercer Consulting's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book, in the dynamic environment Mercer Consulting's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mercer Consulting's 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, Mercer Consulting's 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. Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Consulting's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Mercer Consulting's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mercer Consulting's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Consulting's 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, Mercer Consulting's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mercer Consulting's, firm in the HBR case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mercer Consulting's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book | 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book are -
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 Mercer Consulting's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mercer Consulting's to increase its market reach. Mercer Consulting's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mercer Consulting's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mercer Consulting's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mercer Consulting's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book case study. Mercer Consulting's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Mercer Consulting's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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 Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Consulting's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mercer Consulting's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mercer Consulting's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mercer Consulting's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mercer Consulting's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mercer Consulting's 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.
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. Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Consulting's 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.
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. Mercer Consulting's 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. Mercer Consulting's 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.
Threats Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book are -
Environmental challenges
– Mercer Consulting's 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. Mercer Consulting's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations 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 Mercer Consulting's.
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. Mercer Consulting's 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mercer Consulting's 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book .
Increasing wage structure of Mercer Consulting's
– 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 Mercer Consulting's.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book, Mercer Consulting's 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 .
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. Mercer Consulting's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mercer Consulting's 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.
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 Mercer Consulting's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mercer Consulting's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mercer Consulting's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mercer Consulting's 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mercer Consulting's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (C): The Book 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 Mercer Consulting's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
