Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond
In this paper, I contend that executive leaders can and should be prepared to spot timely opportunities and prevent major failures, even if it requires understanding IT technical details. An essential part of executive leadership is exception management - and exceptions occur everywhere, often surfacing first as details, nothing more. Here I present two cases that show technology is no exception. In this paper, I outline how Steelscreen.com's and RoweCom's early years can illustrate why understanding IT technical details helps explain IT-related failures and successes. In particular, I outline the differences between the two stories and argue that the show stopper for Steelscreen was at its crux a technology detail - the other shortcomings could have been addressed elsewhere. I conclude with some recommendations for executive leaders and a brief outline of a teaching approach suggestion for an MBA or a Senior Executive IT class based on the ideas presented.
Swot Analysis of "Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond" written by Brian Subirana includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Outline Details facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Leadership and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Outline Details, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Outline Details
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 Outline Details
Strengths Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Outline Details in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Outline Details to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Outline Details to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Outline Details has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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.
Learning organization
- Outline Details 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 Outline Details is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Outline Details 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 Outline Details in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Outline Details is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Outline Details is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Outline Details 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Outline Details in the sector have low bargaining power. Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Outline Details to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Outline Details is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Outline Details products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Outline Details needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Outline Details has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Brian Subirana suggests that, Outline Details 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Outline Details 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
– Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond, 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Outline Details 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Outline Details 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Outline Details, firm in the HBR case study Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond HBR case study mentions - Outline Details 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.
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 Outline Details supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Outline Details vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond | 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Outline Details 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Outline Details 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, Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Outline Details 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, Outline Details can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Outline Details operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Outline Details can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Outline Details 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. Outline Details 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Outline Details to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Outline Details 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Outline Details 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 Outline Details to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Outline Details 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 Outline Details to increase its market reach. Outline Details 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Outline Details is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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.
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 Outline Details 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.
Threats Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond are -
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 Outline Details in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Outline Details
– 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 Outline Details.
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 Outline Details business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond, Outline Details 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. Outline Details needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Outline Details is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Outline Details 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Outline Details has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Outline Details 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Outline Details 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Outline Details 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Outline Details with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Outline Details.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Executive Leadership and ITs Technical Details: Teaching Approach for Steelscreen.com and Beyond 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 Outline Details needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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