The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances
For alliances to sustain themselves, the synergies that are generated between partners must be greater than the conflicts that drive them apart. A good starting point to get to the root cause of conflicts in an alliance is to know your partner's levels of fear and greed. In this article, I first offer a systematic way of evaluating fear and greed and then explain how to classify partners into four types (i.e., easy partner, fearful partner, greedy partner, and risky partner) and position them on a map. This map, the alliance map, highlights key areas of concern for managers dealing with each type of partner. This article offers an integrative perspective on alliance management, incorporating both relationally based and contractually based concerns that help to stabilize, develop, and strengthen the partnership in alliances.
Swot Analysis of "The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances" written by Peter Hwang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Greed Map facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greed Map, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greed Map 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greed Map
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Greed Map
Strengths The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greed Map in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Greed Map 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.
Training and development
– Greed Map has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Greed Map in the sector have low bargaining power. The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Greed Map to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Greed Map has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greed Map to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Greed Map 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 Peter Hwang 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Greed Map 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances - 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 Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Greed Map digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Greed Map 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Greed Map in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Greed Map is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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.
Organizational Resilience of Greed Map
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Greed Map does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Greed Map 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 Greed Map is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Greed Map 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Greed Map 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Greed Map 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Greed Map has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Greed Map 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. Greed Map 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Greed Map products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Greed Map needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Greed Map 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 The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances, is just above the industry average. Greed Map 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Greed Map is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Greed Map 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.
Opportunities The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances | 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Greed Map can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Greed Map operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Greed Map 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 Greed Map to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greed Map 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 Greed Map has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Greed Map to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances case study. Greed Map 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, Greed Map 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Greed Map 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Greed Map to increase its market reach. Greed Map 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 Greed Map in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Greed Map can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Greed Map is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Greed Map 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Greed Map can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Greed Map can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances are -
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances, Greed Map may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Greed Map in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Greed Map 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Greed Map 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Greed Map 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Greed Map 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 Greed Map in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Greed Map is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Greed Map
– 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 Greed Map.
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. Greed Map needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution 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. Greed Map 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.
Environmental challenges
– Greed Map 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. Greed Map can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Alliance Map: A Tool for Managing Fear and Greed in Alliances 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 Greed Map needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.