The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A)
These cases are part of a module of teaching materials that study the major financial events of the first decade of the 2000s and the dramatic shift in civic attitudes that accompanied them. Cases on the so-called panic of 2001 address the start of the shift in 2001-02 (the complementary materials address the events of 2008 and beyond.) The substance of the A and B cases is the civic reaction to the dot-com crash of 2000 and the wave of corporate fraud cases exposed from 2000 to 2002. The A case reviews the dot-com crash, the collapse of Enron, other cases of corporate fraud, and the actions of the President, Congress, and other entities up to July 15, 2002. At that date, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley agreed to meet in a conference to hash out the final draft of the bill to be named "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002." The dominant issue for the legislators (and for the students) is how tough to make the bill. The task for the student is to compare and contrast the respective bills and make a recommendation for a compromise. More broadly, the case affords the opportunity to reflect on the dynamics of financial crises and why it seems to be that frauds emerge during times of financial instability.
Swot Analysis of "The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A)" written by Robert F. Bruner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Oxley Sarbanes facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Financial management, Recession and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Oxley Sarbanes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Oxley Sarbanes 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Oxley Sarbanes
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Oxley Sarbanes
Strengths The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Oxley Sarbanes in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Oxley Sarbanes is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Oxley Sarbanes in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Oxley Sarbanes has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Oxley Sarbanes 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
– Oxley Sarbanes is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Oxley Sarbanes
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Oxley Sarbanes does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Oxley Sarbanes is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Oxley Sarbanes is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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.
High brand equity
– Oxley Sarbanes has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Oxley Sarbanes to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Analytics focus
– Oxley Sarbanes 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 Robert F. Bruner 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.
Weaknesses The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) HBR case study mentions - Oxley Sarbanes 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A), is just above the industry average. Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Oxley Sarbanes, firm in the HBR case study The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Oxley Sarbanes 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 Oxley Sarbanes has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Oxley Sarbanes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Oxley Sarbanes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A), in the dynamic environment Oxley Sarbanes has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Oxley Sarbanes has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Oxley Sarbanes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Oxley Sarbanes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Oxley Sarbanes to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Oxley Sarbanes 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 Oxley Sarbanes 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) | 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Oxley Sarbanes 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 Oxley Sarbanes to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Oxley Sarbanes can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Oxley Sarbanes operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Oxley Sarbanes can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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 Oxley Sarbanes in the consumer business. Now Oxley Sarbanes can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Oxley Sarbanes can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Oxley Sarbanes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Oxley Sarbanes to increase its market reach. Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Oxley Sarbanes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Oxley Sarbanes is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Oxley Sarbanes 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Loyalty marketing
– Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Oxley Sarbanes can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Threats The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) are -
Increasing wage structure of Oxley Sarbanes
– 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 Oxley Sarbanes.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Oxley Sarbanes with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Oxley Sarbanes can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Oxley Sarbanes 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.
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. Oxley Sarbanes needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Oxley Sarbanes in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Oxley Sarbanes 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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 Oxley Sarbanes.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Oxley Sarbanes 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Oxley Sarbanes is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Oxley Sarbanes in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 The Panic of 2001 and Corporate Transparency, Accountability, and Trust (A) 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 Oxley Sarbanes needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
