How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work
The possibility of working virtually is fast moving from the realm of science fiction to reality. Yet as companies increasingly move toward virtualizing work processes, the authors find that digitally mediated relationships can give rise to as many problems as solutions. This article discusses different types of virtual work arrangements that exist today and the impact that various types of virtual work can have on organizational processes and structures. Taking an example from the U.S. automobile industry, the authors highlight how a traditional industry must come to terms with the new organizational challenges occasioned by today's digitally mediated relationships. This case offers cautionary advice and lessons for other organizations that would turn to the virtual in the hope of reducing costs by replacing humans and objects with data and representations.
Authors :: Paul Leonardi, Diane E. Bailey, Stephen R. Barley
Swot Analysis of "How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work" written by Paul Leonardi, Diane E. Bailey, Stephen R. Barley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mediated Virtual facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet, IT and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mediated Virtual, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mediated Virtual 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mediated Virtual
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 Mediated Virtual
Strengths How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mediated Virtual in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Mediated Virtual
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mediated Virtual does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Mediated Virtual has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mediated Virtual to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mediated Virtual in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mediated Virtual 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mediated Virtual has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mediated Virtual has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Innovation driven organization
– Mediated Virtual is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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
– Mediated Virtual is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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.
Analytics focus
– Mediated Virtual 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 Paul Leonardi, Diane E. Bailey, Stephen R. Barley 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mediated Virtual to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mediated Virtual to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Mediated Virtual 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 Mediated Virtual is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mediated Virtual digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mediated Virtual 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Mediated Virtual 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 Mediated Virtual has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work HBR case study mentions - Mediated Virtual 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, is just above the industry average. Mediated Virtual 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 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 Mediated Virtual supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mediated Virtual vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mediated Virtual is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, it seems that the employees of Mediated Virtual 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Mediated Virtual 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mediated Virtual 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, in the dynamic environment Mediated Virtual has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mediated Virtual has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mediated Virtual 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.
Opportunities How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work | 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work are -
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 Mediated Virtual in the consumer business. Now Mediated Virtual can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mediated Virtual 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mediated Virtual can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mediated Virtual operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mediated Virtual has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mediated Virtual to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work case study. Mediated Virtual can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mediated Virtual can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mediated Virtual 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mediated Virtual 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mediated Virtual to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Mediated Virtual can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mediated Virtual 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, How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mediated Virtual 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mediated Virtual 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mediated Virtual is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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.
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. Mediated Virtual can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mediated Virtual has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mediated Virtual 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mediated Virtual 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work, Mediated Virtual 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mediated Virtual 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.
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 Mediated Virtual in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline 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 Mediated Virtual business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Mediated Virtual needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Mediated Virtual.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mediated Virtual 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mediated Virtual
– 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 Mediated Virtual.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mediated Virtual 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mediated Virtual 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 How Virtuality Impacts the Way Teams Work 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 Mediated Virtual needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.