Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally
Senior executives from Deloitte, RBC, Manulife and the public sector describe their personal journeys as 'allies' for LGBTQ employees. Doing so entails standing up to those who use insensitive language in the workplace, listening to learn what the employee needs in order to thrive, and spreading the word about the benefits of inclusivity. In the end, they show that you cannot call yourself a great leader today unless you practice and promote inclusiveness.
Authors :: Kenneth Fredeen, Sandeep Tatla, Deborah Richardson, Jennifer Tory
Swot Analysis of "Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally" written by Kenneth Fredeen, Sandeep Tatla, Deborah Richardson, Jennifer Tory includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lgbtq Inclusivity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Talent management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lgbtq Inclusivity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lgbtq Inclusivity
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Lgbtq Inclusivity
Strengths Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lgbtq Inclusivity in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lgbtq Inclusivity in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lgbtq Inclusivity is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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
– Lgbtq Inclusivity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Lgbtq Inclusivity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lgbtq Inclusivity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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
– Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lgbtq Inclusivity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lgbtq Inclusivity has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Learning organization
- Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Lgbtq Inclusivity is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Lgbtq Inclusivity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lgbtq Inclusivity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, it seems that the employees of Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lgbtq Inclusivity 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. Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Lgbtq Inclusivity 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, in the dynamic environment Lgbtq Inclusivity has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lgbtq Inclusivity has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lgbtq Inclusivity, firm in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 - Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lgbtq Inclusivity is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Lgbtq Inclusivity needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lgbtq Inclusivity to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
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 Lgbtq Inclusivity supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lgbtq Inclusivity vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, is just above the industry average. Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Opportunities Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally | 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lgbtq Inclusivity 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, Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Lgbtq Inclusivity 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
– Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
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 Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lgbtq Inclusivity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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, Lgbtq Inclusivity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lgbtq Inclusivity can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lgbtq Inclusivity operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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 Lgbtq Inclusivity in the consumer business. Now Lgbtq Inclusivity can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Lgbtq Inclusivity can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lgbtq Inclusivity can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally, Lgbtq Inclusivity may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lgbtq Inclusivity 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 Lgbtq Inclusivity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lgbtq Inclusivity is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Lgbtq Inclusivity will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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. Lgbtq Inclusivity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lgbtq Inclusivity 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lgbtq Inclusivity 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
– Lgbtq Inclusivity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lgbtq Inclusivity needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lgbtq Inclusivity with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Lgbtq Inclusivity in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ+ Ally 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 Lgbtq Inclusivity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.