New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002
The U.S. choice to go to war with Iraq, beginning in March 2003, was enormously consequential. This two-part case, developed for an HKS course called "Power Shifts: Understanding Global Change Through History," goes back in time to trace the evolution of American policy toward Iraq prior to 9/11, and the shift in thinking that led to war with Iraq during the administration of George W. Bush. The two parts of the case cover different parts of the chronology. While each could be used on its own, they are intended for use together. The (A) case, subtitled "The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002," briefly summarizes US policy toward Iraq after World War II, in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, and during the Persian Gulf War. It describes the frustrations inherent in the "aggressive containment" approach in the decade following. The case describes Bush Administration thinking about Iraq before 9/11, and the shift in thinking after that attack, including tensions within the Administration. The case ends in September 2002, with a tense battle between Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell over what President Bush should say about Iraq in his upcoming September 12 address to the United Nations. The (B) case, subtitled "The Road to War, September 2002 to March 2003," begins with the President's address to the UN, and continues with the Administration's efforts to persuade the U.S. Congress and the United Nations that Iraq was manufacturing WMD, the simultaneous pursuit of a diplomacy track while preparing for war, and negotiations with a critical U.S. ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The case ends with President George W. Bush's ultimatum to Saddam Hussein-that he and his sons leave Iraq within 48 hours, or face war with the United States. Case number 2130.0
Swot Analysis of "New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002" written by Pamela Varley, Arne Westad includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Iraq War facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Leadership and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Iraq War, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Iraq War 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Iraq War
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Iraq War
Strengths New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Iraq War in New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Iraq War digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Iraq War 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.
Analytics focus
– Iraq War 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 Pamela Varley, Arne Westad 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Iraq War in the sector have low bargaining power. New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Iraq War to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Iraq War to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Iraq War to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Iraq War is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Iraq War
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Iraq War 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
– Iraq War has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Iraq War 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Iraq War 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Iraq War is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Iraq War is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Iraq War 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 HBR case study mentions - Iraq War 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Iraq War 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Iraq War 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Iraq War is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Iraq War, firm in the HBR case study New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Pamela Varley, Arne Westad suggests that, Iraq War 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 Iraq War 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002, in the dynamic environment Iraq War has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Iraq War has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Iraq War 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Iraq War products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Iraq War needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 Iraq War has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 | 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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, Iraq War can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Iraq War operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Iraq War 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 Iraq War to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Iraq War can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
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 Iraq War in the consumer business. Now Iraq War can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Iraq War 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Iraq War can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Iraq War has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Iraq War to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 case study. Iraq War can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Iraq War can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Iraq War 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Iraq War to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Iraq War 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Iraq War can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Iraq War 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Iraq War 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.
Threats New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Iraq War high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Iraq War 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, Iraq War 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 .
Increasing wage structure of Iraq War
– 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 Iraq War.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Iraq War with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Iraq War 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Iraq War 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.
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.
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 Iraq War.
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 Iraq War in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Iraq War is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Iraq War business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Iraq War in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 New Peril, Old Adversary: George W. Bush, 9/11, & Iraq (A): The United States & Iraq, 1980 to 2002 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 Iraq War needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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