Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word
Mackenzie Spencer, vice president of operations at Strategic Consulting Group, must determine a staffing (the "S" word) plan for the upcoming year. She must balance the costs of overstaffing with those of understaffing in the face of uncertain demand for future services. Students can either determine a staffing plan based on the expected demand or by taking into account the uncertainty by simulating demand. This case was awarded second place in the 2017 Decision Sciences Institute case-writing competition. It is used at Darden in the first-year operations course as well as in the service operations elective. This case would also be suitable for use in a first-year decision analysis course or in an elective or course module covering optimization.
Swot Analysis of "Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word" written by Elliott N. Weiss, Kate Stets includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Staffing Word facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Staffing Word, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Staffing Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Staffing Word
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 Staffing Word
Strengths Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Staffing Word in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Staffing Word is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Staffing Word 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 Staffing Word in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Staffing Word 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Staffing Word is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Staffing Word to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Staffing Word to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Staffing Word 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 Staffing Word is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Staffing Word in the sector have low bargaining power. Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Staffing Word to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Staffing Word is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Staffing Word 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 Elliott N. Weiss, Kate Stets 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Staffing Word digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Staffing Word 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Staffing Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, it seems that the employees of Staffing Word 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Staffing Word products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Staffing Word needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word HBR case study mentions - Staffing Word 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Staffing Word has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Staffing Word even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
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 Staffing Word supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Staffing Word vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Staffing Word 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Staffing Word is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, is just above the industry average. Staffing Word 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Staffing Word is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Staffing Word is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Staffing Word needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Staffing Word to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word | 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word are -
Buying journey improvements
– Staffing Word can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Staffing Word is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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.
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. Staffing Word 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. Staffing Word 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.
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 Staffing Word in the consumer business. Now Staffing Word can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Staffing Word can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Staffing Word 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Staffing Word has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Staffing Word to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word case study. Staffing Word can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Staffing Word 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Staffing Word 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Staffing Word 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 Staffing Word to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Staffing Word 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, Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Staffing Word 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Staffing Word can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Staffing Word can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Regulatory challenges
– Staffing Word 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Staffing Word with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Staffing Word 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.
Environmental challenges
– Staffing Word needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Staffing Word can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Staffing Word 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word, Staffing Word 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Staffing Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Staffing Word 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.
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 Staffing Word.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Staffing Word
– 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 Staffing Word.
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 Staffing Word in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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 Staffing at the Strategic Advising Consulting Group: The "S" Word 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 Staffing Word needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.