Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead
Founded in 1974, TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) was an independent, not-for-profit research institute which focused on environment issues that affected Indian society and the world at large. TERI's mission was to develop innovative and sustainable interventions and cost-effective solutions that may be translated to action. TERI's competencies spanned the areas of training, outreach, research, and information. In keeping with its mission of being a knowledge-based agent of change, in June 2016, TERI decided to rechristen DSDS as World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS). This was done to expand the profile of participants, increase its geographic reach and shift the location of the event, if required. It was also decided in 2016 to hold the annual event in October instead of February. The challenge confronting Dr. Verma was to come up with an effective event promotion strategy to enhance the WSDS' outreach program and generate significant revenues for TERI without compromising on the preferred choice of partners.
Swot Analysis of "Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead" written by Vijay Vancheswar, DK Batra includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wsds Teri facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Sustainability and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wsds Teri, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wsds Teri 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wsds Teri
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Wsds Teri
Strengths Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wsds Teri in Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Wsds Teri 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 Vijay Vancheswar, DK Batra 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wsds Teri 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wsds Teri in the sector have low bargaining power. Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wsds Teri to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wsds Teri is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wsds Teri 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wsds Teri 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wsds Teri to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wsds Teri to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Wsds Teri has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wsds Teri in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Wsds Teri
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wsds Teri does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wsds Teri has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wsds Teri 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Wsds Teri 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. Wsds Teri 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wsds Teri 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wsds Teri is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Wsds Teri 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wsds Teri has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Wsds Teri 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Wsds Teri 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Wsds Teri, firm in the HBR case study Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wsds Teri 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 - Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wsds Teri is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Wsds Teri needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wsds Teri to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wsds Teri products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wsds Teri needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead | 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead are -
Loyalty marketing
– Wsds Teri 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wsds Teri 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wsds Teri to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wsds Teri 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wsds Teri 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, Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Wsds Teri in the consumer business. Now Wsds Teri can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Wsds Teri 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. Wsds Teri 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wsds Teri 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Wsds Teri can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wsds Teri in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wsds Teri is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wsds Teri can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wsds Teri 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wsds Teri can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Threats Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wsds Teri is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wsds Teri in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wsds Teri has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wsds Teri needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead, Wsds Teri may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Wsds Teri can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Wsds Teri 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wsds Teri with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wsds Teri 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.
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. Wsds Teri needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Wsds Teri in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Wsds Teri 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Delhi/World Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS/WSDS): Rechristening It and the Path Ahead 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 Wsds Teri needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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