The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround
In July 2016, India celebrated the 25th anniversary of its economic reforms, which were initiated in 1991 as a result of a severe fiscal deficit-driven balance of payments crisis. The reforms saw India gradually break free of a low annual growth rate of 3.0-3.5 per cent. In 2016, with a growth rate of 7.6 per cent, India emerged as the fastest-growing economy in the world. The increases in the country's macroeconomic indicators in the past 25 years indicated a major turnaround. Were these positive macroeconomic indicators sufficiently sustainable? Should investors be confident about India's growth story in 2016? Tulsi Jayakumar is affiliated with SP Jain Institute of Management & Research.
Swot Analysis of "The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround" written by Tulsi Jayakumar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Macroeconomic Indicators facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macroeconomic Indicators, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macroeconomic Indicators operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macroeconomic Indicators
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Macroeconomic Indicators
Strengths The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macroeconomic Indicators in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Macroeconomic Indicators in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Macroeconomic Indicators has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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 The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Macroeconomic Indicators to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Macroeconomic Indicators to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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 The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Macroeconomic Indicators is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Macroeconomic Indicators is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround 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
– Macroeconomic Indicators is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macroeconomic Indicators digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Learning organization
- Macroeconomic Indicators 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 Macroeconomic Indicators is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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 Tulsi Jayakumar can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround, in the dynamic environment Macroeconomic Indicators has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Macroeconomic Indicators has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Macroeconomic Indicators 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. Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Macroeconomic Indicators products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Macroeconomic Indicators needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Macroeconomic Indicators has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround, is just above the industry average. Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Macroeconomic Indicators is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Macroeconomic Indicators needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Macroeconomic Indicators to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround HBR case study mentions - Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Macroeconomic Indicators 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 The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround are -
Manufacturing automation
– Macroeconomic Indicators can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Macroeconomic Indicators 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
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 Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Macroeconomic Indicators has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Macroeconomic Indicators to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround case study. Macroeconomic Indicators can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Macroeconomic Indicators 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, The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Macroeconomic Indicators can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Macroeconomic Indicators operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Macroeconomic Indicators can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Macroeconomic Indicators is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Macroeconomic Indicators to increase its market reach. Macroeconomic Indicators will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macroeconomic Indicators 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 Macroeconomic Indicators to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Macroeconomic Indicators can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround are -
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. Macroeconomic Indicators needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Macroeconomic Indicators.
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. Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
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 Macroeconomic Indicators business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround, Macroeconomic Indicators may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Macroeconomic Indicators can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Macroeconomic Indicators in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Macroeconomic Indicators in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Macroeconomic Indicators 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Macroeconomic Indicators is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of The Indian Economy: A Macroeconomic Turnaround 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 Macroeconomic Indicators needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.