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Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands


Supplement to case IN1415. In 2017, the Financial Times ranked INSEAD's MBA programme #1 in the world for the second year in a row. The Dean of INSEAD, Ilian Mihov, commissioned a large-scale study to understand the shool's brand equity compared to its peers. The goal is to optimize INSEAD's positioning, value proposition and communication, to attract the best MBA students. Case A asks students to develop a survey that will measure the strengths and weaknesses of the INSEAD brand compared to its key competitors. They must select the performance measures, relevant competitors and the relevant sample. Case B provides results from a survey of 4,000 GMAT-takers who rated 18 business schools. Students analyze the data to measure the strength of the INSEAD brand and its image compared with its competitors. To optimize the school's positioning, students must identify the most important attributes used when choosing an MBA programme. Please visit the dedicated case website "https://cases.insead.edu/who-is-number-one" to access supplementary material.

Authors :: Joerg Niessing, Pierre Chandon

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Branding, International business, Market research, Performance measurement, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands" written by Joerg Niessing, Pierre Chandon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Insead Insead's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Branding, International business, Market research, Performance measurement and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Insead Insead's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Insead Insead's 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Insead Insead's
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 Insead Insead's




Strengths Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Insead Insead's in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands Harvard Business Review case study are -

Learning organization

- Insead Insead's 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 Insead Insead's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Insead Insead's 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Insead Insead's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Insead Insead's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Insead Insead's 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Insead Insead's 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Analytics focus

– Insead Insead's 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 Joerg Niessing, Pierre Chandon 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.

Organizational Resilience of Insead Insead's

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Insead Insead's 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

– Insead Insead's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Insead Insead's 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Insead Insead's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Insead Insead's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High brand equity

– Insead Insead's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Insead Insead's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Insead Insead's in the sector have low bargaining power. Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Insead Insead's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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.






Weaknesses Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Insead Insead's 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Insead Insead's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Insead Insead's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Insead Insead's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Insead Insead's 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 - Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Lack of clear differentiation of Insead Insead's products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Insead Insead's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Need for greater diversity

– Insead Insead's 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Insead Insead's 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Insead Insead's 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands, in the dynamic environment Insead Insead's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Insead Insead's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Insead Insead's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Insead Insead's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands, it seems that the employees of Insead Insead's 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.




Opportunities Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands | 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands are -

Developing new processes and practices

– Insead Insead's 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Insead Insead's can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Insead Insead's 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Insead Insead's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Insead Insead's to increase its market reach. Insead Insead's 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Insead Insead's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Insead Insead's 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 Insead Insead's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Buying journey improvements

– Insead Insead's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Insead Insead's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Insead Insead's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands case study. Insead Insead's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Insead Insead's 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Insead Insead's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Insead Insead's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Insead Insead's 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Insead Insead's 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

– Insead Insead's 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.




Threats Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands are -

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Insead Insead's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline 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. Insead Insead's 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 Insead Insead's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Insead Insead's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Insead Insead's 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Insead Insead's 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.

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. Insead Insead's 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

– Insead Insead's 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. Insead Insead's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

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 Insead Insead's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing wage structure of Insead Insead's

– 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 Insead Insead's.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Insead Insead's 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.

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. Insead Insead's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Insead Insead's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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 Who's #1: INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, LBS? (B): Leveraging Research to Market Business School Brands 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 Insead Insead's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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