The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business

While some organizations swear by the benefits of transparency and are eager to learn and implement transparency practices, many managers are still reluctant or even afraid to use them. Our research reveals that only a few innovative companies have taken steps to leverage a potentially useful form of transparency: the provision of accessible and objective information to customers (e.g., sharing unbiased benchmark data, publishing unfiltered customer comments, or providing candid product reviews that may praise but also criticize the company's products). Our study also shows that many companies remain wary and view greater calls for transparency as a challenge to be managed rather than an opportunity to be traded upon. This is partly due to limited research into the performance benefits of giving customers access to objective information, and lack of practical guidelines on how to actually implement it. This article addresses these shortcomings. First, we investigate whether performance transparency leads to customer outcomes that can be profitable for an organization and, second, we analyze the characteristics of successful transparency initiatives in a wide range of industries. Our research shows that customers exhibit more trust and are willing to pay a premium to deal with transparent businesses. Also, it uncovers seven effective strategies to leverage transparency. This article provides convincing empirical evidence for the benefits of performance transparency and the ways in which management may implement it successfully.

Authors :: Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Seigyoung Auh, Jaka Levstek

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: IT, Transparency, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business" written by Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Seigyoung Auh, Jaka Levstek includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Transparency Benefits facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Transparency and Leadership & Managing People.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Transparency Benefits, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Transparency Benefits 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Transparency Benefits
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 Transparency Benefits

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Strengths The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Transparency Benefits in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business Harvard Business Review case study are -

Training and development

– Transparency Benefits has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Transparency Benefits in the sector have low bargaining power. The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Transparency Benefits to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry

– The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Transparency Benefits to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Transparency Benefits to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Transparency Benefits is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Transparency Benefits 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 The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Transparency Benefits 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 Transparency Benefits in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Diverse revenue streams

– Transparency Benefits is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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 brand equity

– Transparency Benefits has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Transparency Benefits to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Transparency Benefits digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Transparency Benefits 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.

Organizational Resilience of Transparency Benefits

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Transparency Benefits does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Transparency Benefits 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

– Transparency Benefits 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 Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Seigyoung Auh, Jaka Levstek 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.

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Weaknesses The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business are -

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 Transparency Benefits supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Transparency Benefits vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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 Transparency Benefits 's lucrative customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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 The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Transparency Benefits is planning to shift buying processes online.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Transparency Benefits 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Transparency Benefits is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Transparency Benefits needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Transparency Benefits to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Transparency Benefits has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Need for greater diversity

– Transparency Benefits 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 strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business HBR case study mentions - Transparency Benefits 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Transparency Benefits 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 The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business, in the dynamic environment Transparency Benefits has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Transparency Benefits has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Seigyoung Auh, Jaka Levstek suggests that, Transparency Benefits 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.

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Opportunities The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business are -

Manufacturing automation

– Transparency Benefits can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.

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. Transparency Benefits can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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 Transparency Benefits 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Transparency Benefits can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Transparency Benefits to increase its market reach. Transparency Benefits 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Transparency Benefits can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Transparency Benefits operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Transparency Benefits 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 Transparency Benefits to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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 Transparency Benefits in the consumer business. Now Transparency Benefits can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Transparency Benefits can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Transparency Benefits 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Transparency Benefits 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, Transparency Benefits 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Transparency Benefits can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.

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Threats The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business are -

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. Transparency Benefits 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.

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. Transparency Benefits can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. Transparency Benefits needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Transparency Benefits with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Transparency Benefits has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Transparency Benefits needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business, Transparency Benefits 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.

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 Transparency Benefits.

Increasing wage structure of Transparency Benefits

– 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 Transparency Benefits.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Transparency Benefits 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Transparency Benefits is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Transparency Benefits business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of The Benefits and Implementation of Performance Transparency: The Why and How of Letting Your Customers 'See Through' Your Business 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 Transparency Benefits needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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