Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought
Until now, diversity initiatives have focused primarily on fairness for legally-protected populations. But the smartest organizations today are embracing and harnessing a more powerful and nuanced type of diversity: Diversity of thought. The authors show that increasing diversity of thought at your organization entails three steps: Hiring differently; managing differently; and advancing differently. They describe how to go about each step to achieve an inclusive culture characterized by diversity of thought.
Authors :: Anesa Parker, Carmen Medina, Beth Schill
Swot Analysis of "Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought" written by Anesa Parker, Carmen Medina, Beth Schill includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Diversity Diversity's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diversity Diversity's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diversity Diversity's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Diversity Diversity's
Strengths Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diversity Diversity's in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Diversity Diversity's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Diversity Diversity's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Diversity Diversity's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Diversity Diversity's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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
– Diversity Diversity's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Diversity Diversity's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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)
– Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Diversity Diversity's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Diversity Diversity's 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
- Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity Diversity's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Diversity Diversity's in the sector have low bargaining power. Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Diversity Diversity's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Diversity Diversity's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Diversity Diversity's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Diversity Diversity's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Diversity Diversity's 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.
Weaknesses Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought, in the dynamic environment Diversity Diversity's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Diversity Diversity's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought HBR case study mentions - Diversity Diversity's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Diversity Diversity's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Diversity Diversity's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Diversity Diversity's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anesa Parker, Carmen Medina, Beth Schill suggests that, Diversity Diversity's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Diversity Diversity's 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Diversity Diversity's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Diversity Diversity's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Diversity Diversity's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Diversity Diversity's is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Diversity Diversity's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Diversity Diversity's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought, is just above the industry average. Diversity Diversity's needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought | 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Diversity Diversity's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Diversity Diversity's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought case study. Diversity Diversity's 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
– Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diversity Diversity's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Diversity Diversity's 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 Organizational Development segment.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Diversity Diversity's 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. Diversity Diversity's 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.
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. Diversity Diversity's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Diversity Diversity's to increase its market reach. Diversity Diversity's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Diversity Diversity's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Diversity Diversity's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Diversity Diversity's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Diversity Diversity's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Diversity Diversity's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Diversity Diversity's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Diversity Diversity's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Diversity Diversity's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought, Diversity Diversity's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Diversity Diversity's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Diversity Diversity's is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Diversity Diversity's in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Diversity Diversity's 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Diversity Diversity's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Diversity Diversity's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Diversity Diversity's 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. Diversity Diversity's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Diversity Diversity's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Diversity Diversity's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Diversity Diversity's 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity's New Frontier: Diversity of Thought 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 Diversity Diversity's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.