The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture
The Berkeley-Haas School of Business case study outlines the history of Dean Rich Lyons' culture efforts. The case discusses the challenges the dean faced as well as future challenges to sustain the culture after the dean steps down at the end of the 2017/2018 school year.
Swot Analysis of "The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture" written by Jennifer A. Chatman, Richard K. Lyons includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dean Haas facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership transitions, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dean Haas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dean Haas 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dean Haas
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 Dean Haas
Strengths The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dean Haas in The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dean Haas 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Dean Haas 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 Dean Haas in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Dean Haas 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 Dean Haas is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Dean Haas is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dean Haas 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dean Haas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dean Haas 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dean Haas in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dean Haas to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dean Haas to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dean Haas digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dean Haas 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dean Haas has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dean Haas is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture, in the dynamic environment Dean Haas has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dean Haas has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Dean Haas supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dean Haas vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dean Haas 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 - The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dean Haas is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Dean Haas needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dean Haas to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dean Haas, firm in the HBR case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Dean Haas 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Dean Haas 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture, it seems that the employees of Dean Haas 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jennifer A. Chatman, Richard K. Lyons suggests that, Dean Haas 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dean Haas products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dean Haas needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
Opportunities The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture | 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dean Haas 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dean Haas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dean Haas to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture case study. Dean Haas can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dean Haas 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Dean Haas 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. Dean Haas 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dean Haas can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dean Haas 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. Dean Haas can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Dean Haas in the consumer business. Now Dean Haas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dean Haas to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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. Dean Haas can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dean Haas 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dean Haas can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dean Haas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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.
Threats The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture are -
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 Dean Haas in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Dean Haas business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Dean Haas can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Dean Haas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dean Haas 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dean Haas with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dean Haas 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dean Haas 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 The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dean Haas 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.
Environmental challenges
– Dean Haas 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. Dean Haas 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.
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.
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. Dean Haas 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture 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 Dean Haas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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