Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy
Susan Griffin, owner and cofounder of a small manufacturing company, is formulating a long-term investment strategy. Griffin plans to sell her $10 million company and invest the revenue. She must decide how to allocate her investment so that she can rely entirely on investment income for her financial needs, while still maintaining a comfortable standard of living. In addition, Griffin wants to be able to offer financial help to her two children and her elderly mother.
Swot Analysis of "Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy" written by Dwight B. Crane, Julia D. Stevens includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Griffin Susan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Manufacturing and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Griffin Susan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Griffin Susan 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Griffin Susan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Griffin Susan
Strengths Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Griffin Susan in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Griffin Susan in the sector have low bargaining power. Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Griffin Susan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Griffin Susan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Griffin Susan 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Griffin Susan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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.
Learning organization
- Griffin Susan 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 Griffin Susan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Griffin Susan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Griffin Susan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Griffin Susan 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Griffin Susan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Griffin Susan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Griffin Susan 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Griffin Susan 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Griffin Susan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Griffin Susan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy are -
Need for greater diversity
– Griffin Susan 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Griffin Susan 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 - Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Griffin Susan 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 Griffin Susan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Griffin Susan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Griffin Susan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Griffin Susan has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Griffin Susan even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Griffin Susan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Griffin Susan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Griffin Susan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Griffin Susan is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy, it seems that the employees of Griffin Susan don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Griffin Susan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Griffin Susan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy | 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Griffin Susan 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, Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Griffin Susan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Griffin Susan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Griffin Susan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Griffin Susan 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Griffin Susan 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Griffin Susan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Griffin Susan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Griffin Susan 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. Griffin Susan 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.
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. Griffin Susan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Griffin Susan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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.
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 Griffin Susan in the consumer business. Now Griffin Susan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Griffin Susan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Griffin Susan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Griffin Susan 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Griffin Susan 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Griffin Susan in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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. Griffin Susan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Griffin Susan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Griffin Susan 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.
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 Griffin Susan in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Griffin Susan 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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 Griffin Susan.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Griffin Susan 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 Griffin Susan is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Griffin Susan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Griffin Susan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy 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 Griffin Susan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
