The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform
In late 2014, the deputy minister of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence joined the public service, six months after Ukraine's revolution and change of government. He joined the ministry as part of the new government's attempt to reform a bureaucracy crippled by corruption, inefficiencies, and dysfunction. In six months, he had already made notable changes. However, by March 2015, the changes were not resulting in better outcomes where they were urgently needed-in the eastern regions, supporting a tactically and logistically crippled military that was resisting Russian attempts at incursion. What more could the deputy minister do to initiate and lead change?
Swot Analysis of "The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform" written by Gerard Seijts, Yaryna Boychuk, Liudmyla Kryzhanovska, Sophia Opatska includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ukraine's Ministry facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ukraine's Ministry, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ukraine's Ministry operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ukraine's Ministry
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ukraine's Ministry
Strengths The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ukraine's Ministry in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ukraine's Ministry digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ukraine's Ministry 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.
Training and development
– Ukraine's Ministry has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ukraine's Ministry 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 The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ukraine's Ministry is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ukraine's Ministry in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ukraine's Ministry 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.
High brand equity
– Ukraine's Ministry has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ukraine's Ministry to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Ukraine's Ministry is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Ukraine's Ministry 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 Ukraine's Ministry is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ukraine's Ministry
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ukraine's Ministry does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Ukraine's Ministry 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 Ukraine's Ministry in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ukraine's Ministry is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ukraine's Ministry 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerard Seijts, Yaryna Boychuk, Liudmyla Kryzhanovska, Sophia Opatska suggests that, Ukraine's Ministry 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 The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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 Ukraine's Ministry 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform, is just above the industry average. Ukraine's Ministry needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform, in the dynamic environment Ukraine's Ministry has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ukraine's Ministry has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform, it seems that the employees of Ukraine's Ministry 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ukraine's Ministry has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ukraine's Ministry products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ukraine's Ministry needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ukraine's Ministry 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ukraine's Ministry 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. Ukraine's Ministry 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.
Opportunities The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ukraine's Ministry can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ukraine's Ministry 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 Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ukraine's Ministry can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ukraine's Ministry 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. Ukraine's Ministry 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ukraine's Ministry can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ukraine's Ministry can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ukraine's Ministry operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ukraine's Ministry is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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.
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. Ukraine's Ministry can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Ukraine's Ministry can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ukraine's Ministry can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ukraine's Ministry to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ukraine's Ministry in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ukraine's Ministry 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 The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ukraine's Ministry to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform are -
Increasing wage structure of Ukraine's Ministry
– 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 Ukraine's Ministry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ukraine's Ministry can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform .
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. Ukraine's Ministry 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ukraine's Ministry 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ukraine's Ministry in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ukraine's Ministry 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 Ukraine's Ministry is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Ukraine's Ministry 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. Ukraine's Ministry can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ukraine's Ministry with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform, Ukraine's Ministry may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ukraine's Ministry has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ukraine's Ministry needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
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. Ukraine's Ministry needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: The Role of Character in Reform 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 Ukraine's Ministry needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.