Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace
One of the main challenges facing family firms is achieving fairness between family and non-family employees in the workplace. Family and non-family employees have the potential to offer unique and distinct contributions to the firm, which makes the achievement of fairness between them messy and complicated. Hence, two interesting questions are worth exploring: Given the complex nature of the family business human capital, how can family firms achieve fairness between family and non-family employees? Why should family business decision makers and advisors promote fair practices in the family business workplace? We first introduce a fair process model as a possible solution for family businesses to achieve fairness between family and non-family employees. Then, based on several examples and studies, we show that family business owners can benefit significantly from promoting fairness in the workplace both in terms of preserving business reputation and in terms of achieving long-term family business survival and success.
Authors :: Georges Samara, Daniel Arenas
Topics :: Communication
Tags :: Public relations, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace" written by Georges Samara, Daniel Arenas includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Family Fairness facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations, Social responsibility and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices,
wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Family Fairness, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Family Fairness 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Family Fairness
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Family Fairness
Strengths Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Family Fairness in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Family Fairness is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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.
Learning organization
- Family Fairness 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 Family Fairness is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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.
High brand equity
– Family Fairness has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Family Fairness to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Family Fairness has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Family Fairness is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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)
– Family Fairness 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace - 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 Communication field
– Family Fairness 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 Family Fairness in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Family Fairness is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Family Fairness
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Family Fairness does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Family Fairness 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Family Fairness has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Family Fairness 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace, it seems that the employees of Family Fairness 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 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 Family Fairness supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Family Fairness vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Family Fairness, firm in the HBR case study Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Family Fairness 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Family Fairness 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. Family Fairness 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Family Fairness has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Family Fairness needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Family Fairness is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Family Fairness needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Family Fairness to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Family Fairness 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Family Fairness 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Family Fairness products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Family Fairness needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace | 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Family Fairness 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. Family Fairness 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Family Fairness has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Family Fairness to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace case study. Family Fairness can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Family Fairness can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Family Fairness 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Family Fairness to increase its market reach. Family Fairness 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 Family Fairness in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Family Fairness 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Family Fairness to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Family Fairness in the consumer business. Now Family Fairness can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Family Fairness 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Family Fairness 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Family Fairness can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communication industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Family Fairness can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Family Fairness can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Family Fairness operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Threats Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace are -
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 Family Fairness business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Family Fairness has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Family Fairness needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Family Fairness 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Family Fairness 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Family Fairness in the Communication industry. The Communication 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, Family Fairness 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace .
Regulatory challenges
– Family Fairness 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 Communication industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Family Fairness 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. Family Fairness can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Family Fairness 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Family Fairness can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Family Fairness is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Family Fairness
– 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 Family Fairness.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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 Practicing Fairness in the Family Business Workplace 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 Family Fairness needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
