Swot Analysis of "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A)" written by John Beshears, Iris Bohnet, Jenny Sanford includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Boardroom Null facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing,
there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Boardroom Null, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Boardroom Null 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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Boardroom Null
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Boardroom Null
Strengths Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Boardroom Null in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Boardroom Null to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Boardroom Null to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Boardroom Null 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
– Boardroom Null is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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.
Learning organization
- Boardroom Null 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 Boardroom Null is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Boardroom Null in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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.
Training and development
– Boardroom Null has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Boardroom Null has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Boardroom Null 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.
Organizational Resilience of Boardroom Null
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Boardroom Null does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Boardroom Null 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Boardroom Null 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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Boardroom Null 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 Boardroom Null in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) HBR case study mentions - Boardroom Null 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) 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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Boardroom Null is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A), in the dynamic environment Boardroom Null has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Boardroom Null has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Boardroom Null 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 Boardroom Null supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Boardroom Null vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Boardroom Null 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A), is just above the industry average. Boardroom Null 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Boardroom Null is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Boardroom Null 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Boardroom Null 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.
Opportunities Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Boardroom Null 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 Boardroom Null to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Boardroom Null has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Boardroom Null to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) case study. Boardroom Null 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 Boardroom Null in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Boardroom Null 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Boardroom Null can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Boardroom Null operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Boardroom Null can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Boardroom Null can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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, Boardroom Null 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, Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A), 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 Boardroom Null 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Boardroom Null can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Boardroom Null 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Boardroom Null 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.
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. Boardroom Null can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Boardroom Null is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Boardroom Null 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Boardroom Null with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Boardroom Null 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. Boardroom Null can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Boardroom Null has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Boardroom Null needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Boardroom Null needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Boardroom Null can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Boardroom Null 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Boardroom Null 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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Boardroom Null 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.
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. Boardroom Null 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.
Increasing wage structure of Boardroom Null
– 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 Boardroom Null.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (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 Boardroom Null needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
