It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design
Current trends in telecommuting and non-territorial office design have changed what it means to work in an on-site office and, subsequently, have increased the number of functions office design is expected to serve. At the same time, innovations in technology and design provide today's managers more choices than ever when outfitting their offices. Offers a framework of leveraged office design that illustrates how managers can make design choices that both capitalize on the newest innovations in office design and serve the emerging needs of corporate workers. The framework specifically explores three functions of workplace design: instrumental functions, such as improving decision making and inter-group collaboration; symbolic functions, such as affirming individual distinctiveness and group status; and aesthetic functions, such as allowing for desired sensory experiences and promoting a sense of place attachment. This framework illustrates how organizations can capitalize on all three functions through their choices in office decor and layout.
Swot Analysis of "It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design" written by Kimberly D Elsbach, Beth A. Bechky includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Functions Office facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Creativity, Leading teams, Operations management, Workspaces and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Functions Office, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Functions Office
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 Functions Office
Strengths It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Functions Office in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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
– Functions Office has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Functions Office 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Functions Office in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Functions Office has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Functions Office is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Functions Office 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Functions Office digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Functions Office 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Functions Office in the sector have low bargaining power. It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Functions Office to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Functions Office is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Functions Office is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Functions Office has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Functions Office to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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.
Weaknesses It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Functions Office 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Functions Office 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, Kimberly D Elsbach, Beth A. Bechky suggests that, Functions Office is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design HBR case study mentions - Functions Office 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Functions Office has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Functions Office is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Functions Office needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 Functions Office has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Functions Office 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design, it seems that the employees of Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 Functions Office 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Functions Office, firm in the HBR case study It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design | 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Functions Office can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Functions Office 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Functions Office 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 Functions Office to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Functions Office 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.
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 Functions Office in the consumer business. Now Functions Office can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Functions Office 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. Functions Office 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Functions Office can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Functions Office operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Functions Office 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Functions Office is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Functions Office 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Functions Office 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, It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Functions Office to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Functions Office can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Functions Office is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Functions Office can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Functions Office business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Functions Office 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Functions Office 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design, Functions Office 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Functions Office
– 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 Functions Office.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Functions Office 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design .
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Functions Office 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Functions Office has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Functions Office 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.
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. Functions Office needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 It's More Than a Desk: Working Smarter Through Leveraged Office Design 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 Functions Office needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.