A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel)
Supplement to case KS1231. This case traces the sexual assault scandal that rocked the United States Air Force Academy in 2003. Over a period of several months, dozens of current and former female students came forward to the media and government representatives about being sexually assaulted by their male peers on campus. Several victims also implicated the Academy's leadership for not doing enough to address the problem. When the scandal broke, Lieutenant General John Dallager was the Academy Superintendent (equal to President of a civilian university). The Academy's decade-old sexual assault program guaranteed confidentiality for victims of sexual assault. The program also offered a slew of prevention and support services. Many Academy staff regarded the sexual assault program as the "gold standard." But the rising number of allegations shined a harsh light on the Academy's culture and immediately cast doubts on Dallager's leadership. Why had he and other senior officials at the Academy failed to notice the scale of the problem? Or had they willfully ignored it? Case number 2098.1
Swot Analysis of "A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel)" written by Dana Born, Anjani Datla includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Assault Academy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Leadership development, Personnel policies and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Assault Academy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Assault Academy 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Assault Academy
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Assault Academy
Strengths A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Assault Academy in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Assault Academy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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
– Assault Academy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Assault Academy 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 Assault Academy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Assault Academy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Assault Academy in the sector have low bargaining power. A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Assault Academy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Assault Academy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Assault Academy 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Assault Academy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Assault Academy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Assault Academy 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 Dana Born, Anjani Datla 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Assault Academy 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Assault Academy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Assault Academy in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Assault Academy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Assault Academy 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.
Weaknesses A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) are -
Need for greater diversity
– Assault Academy has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Assault Academy, firm in the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 Assault Academy has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Assault Academy 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 - A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel), is just above the industry average. Assault Academy 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Assault Academy 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. Assault Academy 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel), it seems that the employees of Assault Academy 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Assault Academy is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 Assault Academy 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Assault Academy 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) | 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Assault Academy in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Assault Academy 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 Assault Academy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Assault Academy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) case study. Assault Academy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Assault Academy 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Assault Academy has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Assault Academy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Assault Academy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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, Assault Academy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Assault Academy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Assault Academy 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 Assault Academy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Assault Academy 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 Global Business segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Assault Academy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Assault Academy 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, A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Assault Academy 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
– Assault Academy can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Threats A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) are -
Environmental challenges
– Assault Academy 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. Assault Academy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. Assault Academy 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Assault Academy with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Assault Academy 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Assault Academy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Assault Academy 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel), Assault Academy may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Assault Academy 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 wage structure of Assault Academy
– 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 Assault Academy.
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. Assault Academy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Assault Academy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 A Sharper Look at Zero Tolerance: Reports of Sexual Assault Rock the United States Air Force Academy (Sequel) 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 Assault Academy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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