Math Tools for Strategists SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Math Tools for Strategists
Great strategists rely heavily on numbers as they go about their work. This note offers an overview of the highbrow and lowbrow quantitative tools that individuals commonly encounter during strategy courses and in actual strategy work. The note focuses especially on simple calculations that often produce important insights.
Swot Analysis of "Math Tools for Strategists" written by Tarun Khanna, Jan W. Rivkin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Strategists Highbrow facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Math Tools for Strategists case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Math Tools for Strategists casestudy better are - – 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, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Math Tools for Strategists
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Math Tools for Strategists case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Strategists Highbrow, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Strategists Highbrow 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 Math Tools for Strategists can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Math Tools for Strategists case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Strategists Highbrow
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 Strategists Highbrow
Strengths Math Tools for Strategists | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Strategists Highbrow in Math Tools for Strategists Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Strategists Highbrow 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 Math Tools for Strategists - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Strategists Highbrow has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Math Tools for Strategists 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.
Organizational Resilience of Strategists Highbrow
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Strategists Highbrow does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Strategists Highbrow 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 Strategists Highbrow is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Math Tools for Strategists Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Strategists Highbrow has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Math Tools for Strategists HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Strategists Highbrow 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 Strategists Highbrow 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.
Analytics focus
– Strategists Highbrow 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 Tarun Khanna, Jan W. Rivkin 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Strategists Highbrow has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Strategists Highbrow 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Strategists Highbrow 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 Strategists Highbrow in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Strategists Highbrow is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Math Tools for Strategists firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Strategists Highbrow to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Strategists Highbrow to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Math Tools for Strategists | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Math Tools for Strategists are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Math Tools for Strategists 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 Strategists Highbrow 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Strategists Highbrow 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
Strategists Highbrow 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Strategists Highbrow 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Math Tools for Strategists, in the dynamic environment Strategists Highbrow has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Strategists Highbrow has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Strategists Highbrow 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Strategists Highbrow is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Math Tools for Strategists can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Strategists Highbrow is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Strategists Highbrow needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Strategists Highbrow to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Math Tools for Strategists, is just above the industry average. Strategists Highbrow 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.
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 Strategists Highbrow supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Math Tools for Strategists, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Strategists Highbrow vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Strategists Highbrow 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. Strategists Highbrow 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 Math Tools for Strategists | 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 Math Tools for Strategists are -
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 Strategists Highbrow in the consumer business. Now Strategists Highbrow can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Strategists Highbrow 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Strategists Highbrow 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.
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. Strategists Highbrow can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Strategists Highbrow 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 Strategists Highbrow to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Strategists Highbrow 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Strategists Highbrow 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Strategists Highbrow 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
– Strategists Highbrow 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Strategists Highbrow can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Strategists Highbrow operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Strategists Highbrow has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Strategists Highbrow to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Math Tools for Strategists case study. Strategists Highbrow can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Strategists Highbrow can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Math Tools for Strategists 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Strategists Highbrow 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, Math Tools for Strategists, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Math Tools for Strategists External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Math Tools for Strategists are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Strategists Highbrow in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Strategists Highbrow has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Strategists Highbrow 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.
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.
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. Strategists Highbrow can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Strategists Highbrow
– 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 Strategists Highbrow.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Math Tools for Strategists, Strategists Highbrow may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Strategists Highbrow 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Strategists Highbrow 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 Math Tools for Strategists .
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 Strategists Highbrow.
Regulatory challenges
– Strategists Highbrow needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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 Strategists Highbrow in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Strategists Highbrow business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Strategists Highbrow can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Math Tools for Strategists 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 Math Tools for Strategists 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 Math Tools for Strategists 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 Math Tools for Strategists 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 Math Tools for Strategists 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 Strategists Highbrow needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
