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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt


One of the leading publishers of textbooks and other educational materials for the U.S. K-12 educational instruction market has suffered a dramatic decline in sales and profits in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial market crisis and economic recession and is now overburdened with debt. To regain its competitiveness, the company has to significantly reduce its debt by billions of dollars. Company management is trying to decide which of several options is best for achieving this goal, including filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, restructuring its debt out-of-court, or filing a "pre-packaged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Authors :: Stuart C. Gilson, Sarah L. Abbott

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions, Recession, Reorganization, Research & development, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Houghton Mifflin Harcourt" written by Stuart C. Gilson, Sarah L. Abbott includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Filing Debt facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions, Recession, Reorganization, Research & development and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Filing Debt, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Filing Debt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Filing Debt
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 Filing Debt




Strengths Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Filing Debt in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

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

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Filing Debt 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Filing Debt is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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

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

Analytics focus

– Filing Debt 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 Stuart C. Gilson, Sarah L. Abbott 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.

Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Filing Debt is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Filing Debt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 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

– Filing Debt is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Filing Debt in the sector have low bargaining power. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Filing Debt to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Filing Debt has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Filing Debt 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Filing Debt 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.






Weaknesses Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Filing Debt 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Filing Debt 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Filing Debt 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 Filing Debt 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 - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Filing Debt is planning to shift buying processes online.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in the dynamic environment Filing Debt has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Filing Debt has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Filing Debt is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Filing Debt needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Filing Debt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is just above the industry average. Filing Debt 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it seems that the employees of Filing Debt 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Filing Debt has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Filing Debt, firm in the HBR case study Houghton Mifflin Harcourt needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.




Opportunities Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are -

Manufacturing automation

– Filing Debt 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Filing Debt 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, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Filing Debt has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Filing Debt to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt case study. Filing Debt can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Filing Debt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Filing Debt to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Filing Debt 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 Finance & Accounting segment.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Filing Debt is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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.

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

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

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. Filing Debt 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. Filing Debt 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.

Better consumer reach

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

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Filing Debt 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Filing Debt 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.

Increase in government spending

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




Threats Houghton Mifflin Harcourt External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Filing Debt 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.

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.

Increasing wage structure of Filing Debt

– 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 Filing Debt.

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 Filing Debt.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Filing Debt 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.

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

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Filing Debt is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Filing Debt needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Filing Debt 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.

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 Filing Debt business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Filing Debt has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Filing Debt needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.

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 Filing Debt in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 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 Filing Debt needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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