We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue
As researchers and consultants, we have spent the last few years helping a dozen major public and private organizations understand what went wrong with their strategic planning. We discovered that executives have a hard time with strategy because they are at a loss when the time comes to engage in strategic dialogue. Either their teams debate the organization's values and goals when such issues should be settled, or they waste time on the details of specific projects that have yet to receive the green light. But whether the conversation is too broad or too narrow, strategy stays out of view. Drawing on recent developments in strategy-as-practice and decision-making literature, we propose a model that executives can follow to take control of strategy meetings and keep their teams on track. We ask them to focus on the right decision purpose, adjust the meeting's communication style, and cast the right leader for the job. When these three simple rules are followed, the pillars of successful dialogue are aligned, and executives can finally talk about what matters most to them: strategy.
Authors :: Alaric Bourgoin, Francois Marchessaux, Nicolas Bencherki
Swot Analysis of "We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue" written by Alaric Bourgoin, Francois Marchessaux, Nicolas Bencherki includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dialogue Talk facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dialogue Talk, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dialogue Talk 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dialogue Talk
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 Dialogue Talk
Strengths We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dialogue Talk in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Dialogue Talk 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 Dialogue Talk is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dialogue Talk 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
– Dialogue Talk 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 Alaric Bourgoin, Francois Marchessaux, Nicolas Bencherki 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Dialogue Talk 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 Dialogue Talk in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dialogue Talk is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Dialogue Talk is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dialogue Talk is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 Dialogue Talk
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dialogue Talk does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dialogue Talk in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dialogue Talk digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dialogue Talk 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.
High brand equity
– Dialogue Talk has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dialogue Talk to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dialogue Talk 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dialogue Talk 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue, is just above the industry average. Dialogue Talk 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 Dialogue Talk supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dialogue Talk vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue HBR case study mentions - Dialogue Talk 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dialogue Talk, firm in the HBR case study We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dialogue Talk products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dialogue Talk needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dialogue Talk 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 - We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dialogue Talk is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Alaric Bourgoin, Francois Marchessaux, Nicolas Bencherki suggests that, Dialogue Talk 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Dialogue Talk 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.
Opportunities We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue | 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue are -
Loyalty marketing
– Dialogue Talk 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dialogue Talk 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. Dialogue Talk 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Dialogue Talk can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dialogue Talk 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 Dialogue Talk to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dialogue Talk 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dialogue Talk can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dialogue Talk operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Dialogue Talk can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dialogue Talk 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dialogue Talk 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dialogue Talk to increase its market reach. Dialogue Talk will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dialogue Talk can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dialogue Talk 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dialogue Talk 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.
Threats We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dialogue Talk has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dialogue Talk 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.
Environmental challenges
– Dialogue Talk 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. Dialogue Talk can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Dialogue Talk.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dialogue Talk with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dialogue Talk is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Dialogue Talk
– 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 Dialogue Talk.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue, Dialogue Talk 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 .
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 Dialogue Talk business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dialogue Talk 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Dialogue Talk 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.
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. Dialogue Talk needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Dialogue Talk in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 We Need to Talk About Strategy: How To Conduct Effective Strategic Dialogue 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 Dialogue Talk needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
