LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap
In 2016, LinkedIn was the largest online platform connecting people to job opportunities and training. The company's goal was to innovate and co-create with stakeholders a stable, yet emergent online platform that could serve a global business community undergoing rapid transformation in technology, job requirements, and the structure of work itself. LinkedIn had a leadership role in this transformation; the company vision, market penetration, and expertise promised to help address major problems of global unemployment and underemployment. The company's Economic Graph, a massive data set of employment information, was part of the response, but LinkedIn had some challenges to address. How could LinkedIn co-create with stakeholders a stable, increasingly scaled online platform that could serve a global business community, while the structures of those stakeholders inhibited interconnectivity, the skill sets for workers were evolving, and the requirements for and nature of work itself was going through rapid, uncertain transformation? How could it expand to include less educated adults and connect people in regions with different business cultures, values, and practices? How could it better coordinate open-source information among stakeholders? How could it define "soft skills" and connect people with good soft skills with hiring managers? Jeff Saperstein is affiliated with San Francisco State University.
Swot Analysis of "LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap" written by Jeff Saperstein, Mariela Gonzalez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Linkedin Stakeholders facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Linkedin Stakeholders, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Linkedin Stakeholders 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Linkedin Stakeholders
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Linkedin Stakeholders
Strengths LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Linkedin Stakeholders in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Linkedin Stakeholders digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Linkedin Stakeholders is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Linkedin Stakeholders in the sector have low bargaining power. LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Linkedin Stakeholders to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Linkedin Stakeholders
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Linkedin Stakeholders does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 Linkedin Stakeholders in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 Jeff Saperstein, Mariela Gonzalez 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Linkedin Stakeholders is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 Linkedin Stakeholders in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Linkedin Stakeholders has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Linkedin Stakeholders is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Weaknesses LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Linkedin Stakeholders, firm in the HBR case study LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Linkedin Stakeholders products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Linkedin Stakeholders needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Linkedin Stakeholders supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Linkedin Stakeholders vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Linkedin Stakeholders is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Linkedin Stakeholders needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Linkedin Stakeholders to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Linkedin Stakeholders 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap, is just above the industry average. Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeff Saperstein, Mariela Gonzalez suggests that, Linkedin Stakeholders is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap HBR case study mentions - Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Linkedin Stakeholders 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 - LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap | 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap are -
Buying journey improvements
– Linkedin Stakeholders can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Linkedin Stakeholders has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Linkedin Stakeholders to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap case study. Linkedin Stakeholders can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Linkedin Stakeholders to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Linkedin Stakeholders can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Linkedin Stakeholders can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Linkedin Stakeholders can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Linkedin Stakeholders can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Linkedin Stakeholders 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, LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Linkedin Stakeholders can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Linkedin Stakeholders 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Loyalty marketing
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
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 Linkedin Stakeholders in the consumer business. Now Linkedin Stakeholders can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Linkedin Stakeholders 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.
Threats LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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. Linkedin Stakeholders needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Linkedin Stakeholders
– 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 Linkedin Stakeholders.
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 Linkedin Stakeholders business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Linkedin Stakeholders 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap, Linkedin Stakeholders may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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 Linkedin Stakeholders.
Regulatory challenges
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
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
– Linkedin Stakeholders has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Linkedin Stakeholders needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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
– Linkedin Stakeholders 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 Linkedin Stakeholders is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 LinkedIn: Bridging the Global Employment Gap 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 Linkedin Stakeholders needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.