Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017)
This exercise assesses one's exposure to the rest of the world's peoples. A series of worksheets require the respondents to check off the number and names of countries they have visited and the corresponding percentage of world population which each country represents. By summing a group's collective exposure to the world's people, the result will inevitably be the recognition that together they have seen much, even if individually some have seen little. The teaching note provides assignments and discussion questions which look at: why there is such a high variability in individual profiles; the implications of each profile for one's business career; and, what it would take for the respondent to change his/her profile. For marketers, it underscores the need to gather greater base knowledge about opportunities abroad.
Swot Analysis of "Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017)" written by Paul W. Beamish includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Exposure Peoples facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Cross-cultural management, Leading teams and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Exposure Peoples, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Exposure Peoples
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 Exposure Peoples
Strengths Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Exposure Peoples in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Exposure Peoples
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Exposure Peoples does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Exposure Peoples in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Exposure Peoples has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Exposure Peoples 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Exposure Peoples 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 Exposure Peoples in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Exposure Peoples has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Exposure Peoples digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Exposure Peoples 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
– Exposure Peoples is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Exposure Peoples 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 Paul W. Beamish 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.
Learning organization
- Exposure Peoples 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 Exposure Peoples is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Exposure Peoples is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Exposure Peoples, firm in the HBR case study Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Exposure Peoples 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Exposure Peoples 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. Exposure Peoples 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Exposure Peoples 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.
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 Exposure Peoples supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Exposure Peoples vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Exposure Peoples 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017), is just above the industry average. Exposure Peoples 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017), in the dynamic environment Exposure Peoples has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) HBR case study mentions - Exposure Peoples 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.
Opportunities Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) | 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) are -
Manufacturing automation
– Exposure Peoples 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Exposure Peoples is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Exposure Peoples 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 Exposure Peoples to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Exposure Peoples to increase its market reach. Exposure Peoples 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Exposure Peoples to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Exposure Peoples has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Exposure Peoples to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) case study. Exposure Peoples can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Exposure Peoples can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Exposure Peoples operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Exposure Peoples can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Exposure Peoples 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Exposure Peoples 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Exposure Peoples can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Exposure Peoples can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Exposure Peoples 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.
Threats Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Exposure Peoples with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Exposure Peoples 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.
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 Exposure Peoples.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017), Exposure Peoples 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Exposure Peoples 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. Exposure Peoples can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Exposure Peoples 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Exposure Peoples 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Exposure Peoples has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Exposure Peoples needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing wage structure of Exposure Peoples
– 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 Exposure Peoples.
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. Exposure Peoples needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Exposure Peoples 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.
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. Exposure Peoples can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Where Have You Been? An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the World's Peoples (2017) 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 Exposure Peoples needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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