Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively
It's common practice to develop a handful of strategic priorities to focus strategy -but formulated correctly, they're also useful communication tools for both internal and external stakeholders. Clear, credible priorities linked to explicit metrics offer a framework for assessing progress toward the company's goals, in a way that abstractions like vision or mission cannot.
Authors :: Donald N. Sull, Stefano Turconi, Charles Sull
Swot Analysis of "Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively" written by Donald N. Sull, Stefano Turconi, Charles Sull includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Priorities Abstractions facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Priorities Abstractions, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Priorities Abstractions 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Priorities Abstractions
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 Priorities Abstractions
Strengths Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Priorities Abstractions in Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Priorities Abstractions in the sector have low bargaining power. Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Priorities Abstractions to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Priorities Abstractions is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Priorities Abstractions has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Priorities Abstractions to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Priorities Abstractions 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Priorities Abstractions in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Priorities Abstractions 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 Priorities Abstractions in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Priorities Abstractions 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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.
Training and development
– Priorities Abstractions has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Priorities Abstractions has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Priorities Abstractions 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Priorities Abstractions to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Priorities Abstractions to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Priorities Abstractions digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Priorities Abstractions 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.
Weaknesses Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively are -
Need for greater diversity
– Priorities Abstractions 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Priorities Abstractions is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Priorities Abstractions needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Priorities Abstractions to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Priorities Abstractions is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Donald N. Sull, Stefano Turconi, Charles Sull suggests that, Priorities Abstractions is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Priorities Abstractions is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Priorities Abstractions 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Priorities Abstractions 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Priorities Abstractions 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively HBR case study mentions - Priorities Abstractions takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Priorities Abstractions 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 - Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Priorities Abstractions 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively | 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Priorities Abstractions 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Priorities Abstractions to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Priorities Abstractions 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.
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. Priorities Abstractions can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Priorities Abstractions can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Priorities Abstractions 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. Priorities Abstractions 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Priorities Abstractions 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Priorities Abstractions can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Priorities Abstractions can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Priorities Abstractions operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Priorities Abstractions 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Priorities Abstractions can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Priorities Abstractions 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Priorities Abstractions 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
– Priorities Abstractions 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.
Threats Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Priorities Abstractions can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Priorities Abstractions 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Priorities Abstractions with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Priorities Abstractions 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. Priorities Abstractions can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Priorities Abstractions.
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. Priorities Abstractions needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Priorities Abstractions business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Priorities Abstractions has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Priorities Abstractions needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Priorities Abstractions in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Priorities Abstractions 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 Priorities Abstractions
– 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 Priorities Abstractions.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Priorities Abstractions 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Six Steps to Communicating Strategic Priorities Effectively 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 Priorities Abstractions needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
