What to Expect from Agile SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of What to Expect from Agile
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. In this article, the author examines agile as a management practice through a case study of ING bank in the Netherlands, which has adopted agile across its headquarters in Amsterdam. The research is based on in-depth interviews with 15 ING executives and many front-line employees. The article highlights key learnings at ING, largely from the point of view of the senior executives of the bank, and explores the challenges of implementing agile in an established organization, focusing on five lessons: 1. Decide how much power you are willing to give up. Agile shifts power away from those at the top and puts ownership in the hands of those closest to the action. Unless top executives are willing to accept that they are surrendering some status and power, agile will not be a good fit. 2. Prepare stakeholders for the leap. ING executives had to sell agile to nervous stakeholders, including board members, employees, and bank regulators. For example, executives assured regulators that finance, compliance, and legal functions would continue to be managed in the traditional way. 3. Build the structure around customers -and keep it fluid. Like other approaches to management, agile is focused on customers. ING in the Netherlands has tried to keep its organizational structure fluid so that it can evolve to do what's best for customers. 4. Give employees the right balance of oversight and autonomy. A quarterly goal-setting process is part of the agile structure at ING in the Netherlands. This has been a learning process. Initially, groups defined goals that were comfortably achievable, and executives had to urge them toward more ambitious targets. 5. Provide employees with development and growth opportunities. The team-based structures used in agile can be scary for employees used to having their personal development and career progression mapped out by HR departments or the mainstream career trajectories of a given industry. One lesson from ING's experience is that finding proper coaching and support for agile -and the new, long-term responsibilities employees must embrace -is one of the hardest parts of the transformation.
Swot Analysis of "What to Expect from Agile" written by Julian Birkinshaw includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agile Ing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What to Expect from Agile case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the What to Expect from Agile casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What to Expect from Agile
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in What to Expect from Agile case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agile Ing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agile Ing 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 What to Expect from Agile can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What to Expect from Agile case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agile Ing
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Agile Ing
Strengths What to Expect from Agile | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agile Ing in What to Expect from Agile Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Agile Ing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in What to Expect from Agile 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Agile Ing 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Agile Ing 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 What to Expect from Agile - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Agile Ing 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 What to Expect from Agile HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Agile Ing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Agile Ing 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agile Ing 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 What to Expect from Agile 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– What to Expect from Agile firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agile Ing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agile Ing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Agile Ing in the sector have low bargaining power. What to Expect from Agile has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Agile Ing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Agile Ing 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 Agile Ing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in What to Expect from Agile Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Agile Ing 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.
High brand equity
– Agile Ing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Agile Ing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses What to Expect from Agile | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of What to Expect from Agile are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Agile Ing 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Agile Ing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Agile Ing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study What to Expect from Agile, is just above the industry average. Agile Ing 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Agile Ing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Agile Ing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Agile Ing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Agile Ing 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study What to Expect from Agile 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 Agile Ing 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Agile Ing, firm in the HBR case study What to Expect from Agile needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Julian Birkinshaw suggests that, Agile Ing 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Agile Ing 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Agile Ing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study What to Expect from Agile can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Agile Ing supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - What to Expect from Agile, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Agile Ing vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities What to Expect from Agile | 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 What to Expect from Agile are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Agile Ing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. What to Expect from Agile 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Agile Ing 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.
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. Agile Ing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Agile Ing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. What to Expect from Agile 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Agile Ing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agile Ing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Agile Ing to increase its market reach. Agile Ing 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Agile Ing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Agile Ing 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 What to Expect from Agile - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Agile Ing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agile Ing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agile Ing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the What to Expect from Agile case study. Agile Ing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Agile Ing 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 Agile Ing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Agile Ing 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. Agile Ing 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Agile Ing in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Agile Ing 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.
Threats What to Expect from Agile External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study What to Expect from Agile are -
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 Agile Ing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Agile Ing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Agile Ing is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Agile Ing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Agile Ing 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 wage structure of Agile Ing
– 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 Agile Ing.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Agile Ing 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Agile Ing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study What to Expect from Agile, Agile Ing may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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.
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 Agile Ing in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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 Agile Ing in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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 What to Expect from Agile 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 What to Expect from Agile 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 What to Expect from Agile 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 What to Expect from Agile 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 What to Expect from Agile 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 Agile Ing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
