The only female senior partner at a boutique management consulting firm has found out that she is paid less than half of what male partners were making who were younger, less experienced, and contributing less overall to the business. When she presented her case to the senior partners and explicitly asked if the pay discrepancy is become she was a woman, they would only respond to her through lawyers. The case is designed to bring students' instinctive decision-making tendencies to the surface. Thus, it is short enough to be read and responded to in class. Students are assigned readings and assignments related to the case after class discussion in which they are encouraged to reflect on their initial responses. The case is quite flexible and would work in any course that deals with leadership, ethics, difficult conversations, decision-making, organizational behavior, human resources, and related topics. It is appropriate for a range of levels and audiences, including undergraduate, MBA, and executive education.
Swot Analysis of "Pay Scales" written by James R. Detert, Christina Black includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Discrepancy Instinctive facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pay Scales case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Difficult conversations, Ethics, Gender, Leadership and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pay Scales casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pay Scales case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Discrepancy Instinctive, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Pay Scales can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pay Scales case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Discrepancy Instinctive
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 Discrepancy Instinctive
Strengths Pay Scales | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Discrepancy Instinctive in Pay Scales Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Discrepancy Instinctive is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pay Scales 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Discrepancy Instinctive is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pay Scales Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Discrepancy Instinctive has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Discrepancy Instinctive is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Discrepancy Instinctive in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Pay Scales firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Discrepancy Instinctive to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Discrepancy Instinctive to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Discrepancy Instinctive is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pay Scales 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 Discrepancy Instinctive
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Discrepancy Instinctive does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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 James R. Detert, Christina Black 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Pay Scales HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Pay Scales | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pay Scales are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pay Scales 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 Discrepancy Instinctive 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pay Scales, it seems that the employees of Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Discrepancy Instinctive is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pay Scales can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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 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 Discrepancy Instinctive supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pay Scales, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Discrepancy Instinctive vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Discrepancy Instinctive is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Discrepancy Instinctive needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Discrepancy Instinctive to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Discrepancy Instinctive 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 - Pay Scales should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pay Scales, in the dynamic environment Discrepancy Instinctive has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Discrepancy Instinctive 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
Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Discrepancy Instinctive products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Discrepancy Instinctive needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Pay Scales | 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 Pay Scales are -
Manufacturing automation
– Discrepancy Instinctive can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Pay Scales - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Discrepancy Instinctive to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
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. Discrepancy Instinctive 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. Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
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 Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Discrepancy Instinctive can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Discrepancy Instinctive 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, Discrepancy Instinctive is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pay Scales 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.
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. Discrepancy Instinctive can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Discrepancy Instinctive to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Discrepancy Instinctive can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pay Scales 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Discrepancy Instinctive can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Pay Scales External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pay Scales are -
Environmental challenges
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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. Discrepancy Instinctive can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Discrepancy Instinctive with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Discrepancy Instinctive demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Discrepancy Instinctive is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
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. Discrepancy Instinctive needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Discrepancy Instinctive has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Increasing wage structure of Discrepancy Instinctive
– 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 Discrepancy Instinctive.
Regulatory challenges
– Discrepancy Instinctive 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Discrepancy Instinctive 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pay Scales 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 Pay Scales 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 Pay Scales 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 Pay Scales 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 Pay Scales 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 Discrepancy Instinctive needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.