Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not
Organizations need to focus on how blockchain can be used to support their unique strategies. Without this focus, they risk investing in initiatives that don't provide meaningful value.
Authors :: Daniel Han Min Chng, Tae-Yeol Kim, Brad Gilbreath, Lynne Andersson
Swot Analysis of "Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not" written by Daniel Han Min Chng, Tae-Yeol Kim, Brad Gilbreath, Lynne Andersson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Blockchain Focus facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Risk management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blockchain Focus, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blockchain Focus 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blockchain Focus
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 Blockchain Focus
Strengths Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blockchain Focus in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blockchain Focus 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 Blockchain Focus 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
– Blockchain Focus has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Blockchain Focus to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Blockchain Focus has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Blockchain Focus 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Blockchain Focus is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Blockchain Focus
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Blockchain Focus does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Blockchain Focus is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Blockchain Focus to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Blockchain Focus to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Blockchain Focus 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
– Blockchain Focus 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Blockchain Focus 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 Blockchain Focus is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Blockchain Focus 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 Blockchain Focus in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Blockchain Focus 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 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 Blockchain Focus supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blockchain Focus vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Blockchain Focus 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Blockchain Focus has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Blockchain Focus is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Blockchain Focus needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Blockchain Focus to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not, is just above the industry average. Blockchain Focus 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not HBR case study mentions - Blockchain Focus 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Blockchain Focus has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Blockchain Focus, firm in the HBR case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Blockchain Focus products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Blockchain Focus needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not | 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Blockchain Focus 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Blockchain Focus to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Blockchain Focus 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Blockchain Focus 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Blockchain Focus 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Blockchain Focus can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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, Blockchain Focus can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Blockchain Focus operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Blockchain Focus 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. Blockchain Focus can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Blockchain Focus in the consumer business. Now Blockchain Focus can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Blockchain Focus 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, Blockchain Focus 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Blockchain Focus can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Blockchain Focus 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.
Threats Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not are -
Regulatory challenges
– Blockchain Focus 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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. Blockchain Focus 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.
Increasing wage structure of Blockchain Focus
– 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 Blockchain Focus.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Blockchain Focus 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 Blockchain Focus 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not, Blockchain Focus 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Blockchain Focus has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Blockchain Focus 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Blockchain Focus 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.
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 Blockchain Focus business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Blockchain Focus can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Blockchain Focus can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not .
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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 Why People Believe in Their Leaders - Or Not 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 Blockchain Focus needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
