Case Study Description of The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
In 2014, as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has just brought former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on as chairman of the board, Jean Rogers, founder and CEO struggles with how best to ensure the nonprofit's financial sustainability while pushing for broad acceptance of its nonfinancial accounting metrics.
Swot Analysis of "The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board" written by Julie Battilana, Michael Norris includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Accounting Sustainability facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Social enterprise, Sustainability and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Accounting Sustainability, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Accounting Sustainability 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 The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Accounting Sustainability
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 Accounting Sustainability
Strengths The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Accounting Sustainability in The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Accounting Sustainability in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Accounting Sustainability 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 Accounting Sustainability in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Accounting Sustainability 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Accounting Sustainability 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.
High brand equity
– Accounting Sustainability has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Accounting Sustainability to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Accounting Sustainability has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Accounting Sustainability to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Accounting Sustainability to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Accounting Sustainability is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Accounting Sustainability 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 The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Accounting Sustainability in the sector have low bargaining power. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Accounting Sustainability to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Accounting Sustainability
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Accounting Sustainability does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Accounting Sustainability needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, in the dynamic environment Accounting Sustainability has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Accounting Sustainability has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Accounting Sustainability 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Accounting Sustainability is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Accounting Sustainability needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Accounting Sustainability to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Accounting Sustainability is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Accounting Sustainability products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Accounting Sustainability needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Accounting Sustainability 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, is just above the industry average. Accounting Sustainability needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Julie Battilana, Michael Norris suggests that, Accounting Sustainability 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board HBR case study mentions - Accounting Sustainability 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.
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 Accounting Sustainability supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Accounting Sustainability vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board | 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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Accounting Sustainability 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 The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Accounting Sustainability to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Accounting Sustainability 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Accounting Sustainability is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Accounting Sustainability 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.
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. Accounting Sustainability 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. Accounting Sustainability 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Accounting Sustainability 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Accounting Sustainability 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 Accounting Sustainability to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Accounting Sustainability 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Accounting Sustainability can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Accounting Sustainability can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Accounting Sustainability 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.
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. Accounting Sustainability can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Accounting Sustainability has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Accounting Sustainability to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board case study. Accounting Sustainability can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board are -
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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, Accounting Sustainability may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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 Accounting Sustainability.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Accounting Sustainability 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 Accounting Sustainability 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Accounting Sustainability is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Accounting Sustainability needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Accounting Sustainability can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing wage structure of Accounting Sustainability
– 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 Accounting Sustainability.
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.
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 Accounting Sustainability in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Accounting Sustainability needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Accounting Sustainability 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Accounting Sustainability 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board 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 Accounting Sustainability needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
