Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version
Describes the efforts of the president of Booz.Allen, a major consulting firm, to understand and improve the way that products, services, and processes are developed and deployed throughout the firm. Proactive management of these processes proves very difficult because of the firm's decentralized decision structure and the firm's cultural predisposition to listen to its existing customers.
Swot Analysis of "Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version" written by Clayton M. Christensen, Bret Baird includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Booz.allen Predisposition facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Decision making, Managing people, Organizational culture, Product development, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Booz.allen Predisposition, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Booz.allen Predisposition
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 Booz.allen Predisposition
Strengths Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Booz.allen Predisposition in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Booz.allen Predisposition to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Booz.allen Predisposition to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Booz.allen Predisposition in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Booz.allen Predisposition is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Booz.allen Predisposition is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Booz.allen Predisposition digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Booz.allen Predisposition 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 recruit top talent
– Booz.allen Predisposition is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Booz.allen Predisposition
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Booz.allen Predisposition does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Booz.allen Predisposition has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Booz.allen Predisposition is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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.
Weaknesses Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Booz.allen Predisposition is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Booz.allen Predisposition needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Booz.allen Predisposition to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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, Booz.allen Predisposition is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version HBR case study mentions - Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Booz.allen Predisposition, firm in the HBR case study Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Clayton M. Christensen, Bret Baird suggests that, Booz.allen Predisposition 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
Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Booz.allen Predisposition supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Booz.allen Predisposition vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version, it seems that the employees of Booz.allen Predisposition don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Booz.allen Predisposition 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version | 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version are -
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. Booz.allen Predisposition can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Booz.allen Predisposition to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Booz.allen Predisposition can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Booz.allen Predisposition operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Booz.allen Predisposition can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Booz.allen Predisposition has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Booz.allen Predisposition to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version case study. Booz.allen Predisposition can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Booz.allen Predisposition can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Booz.allen Predisposition to increase its market reach. Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
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. Booz.allen Predisposition 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. Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version are -
Regulatory challenges
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Environmental challenges
– Booz.allen Predisposition 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. Booz.allen Predisposition can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Booz.allen Predisposition is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version, Booz.allen Predisposition 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Booz.allen Predisposition in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Booz.allen Predisposition.
Increasing wage structure of Booz.allen Predisposition
– 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 Booz.allen Predisposition.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Booz.allen Predisposition 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version .
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. Booz.allen Predisposition needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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. Booz.allen Predisposition 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton, Chinese Version 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 Booz.allen Predisposition needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
