Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice"
Discusses moving beyond corporate identity and branding as graphic design to the principle of Voice, defined as an organization's profile that emerges from its values and history. Outlines the design of Caterpillar's Voice as a way of building relationships as well as recognition, about taking advantage of Voice as a guidepost for strategic thinking as well as a guideline for both internal and external communications.
Authors :: Marjorie B. Platt, Julie H. Hertenstein
Swot Analysis of "Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice"" written by Marjorie B. Platt, Julie H. Hertenstein includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Voice Guidepost facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications, Design, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing,
geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice"
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Voice Guidepost, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Voice Guidepost 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Voice Guidepost
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Voice Guidepost
Strengths Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Voice Guidepost in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Voice Guidepost is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Voice Guidepost has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Voice Guidepost has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Voice Guidepost 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
– Voice Guidepost is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Voice Guidepost in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Voice Guidepost is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Voice Guidepost in the sector have low bargaining power. Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Voice Guidepost to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Voice Guidepost
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Voice Guidepost does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Voice Guidepost 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.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Voice Guidepost 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 Voice Guidepost 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 Voice Guidepost 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communication industry
– Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Voice Guidepost to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communication industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Voice Guidepost to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Voice Guidepost 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. Voice Guidepost 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Voice Guidepost is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Voice Guidepost needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Voice Guidepost to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Voice Guidepost 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Voice Guidepost is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Voice Guidepost products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Voice Guidepost needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" HBR case study mentions - Voice Guidepost 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Voice Guidepost, firm in the HBR case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice", it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Communication 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice", it seems that the employees of Voice Guidepost 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Voice Guidepost 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.
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 Voice Guidepost supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice", it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Voice Guidepost vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" | 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" are -
Manufacturing automation
– Voice Guidepost can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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 Voice Guidepost 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 Voice Guidepost to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Voice Guidepost can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Voice Guidepost operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Voice Guidepost 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Voice Guidepost is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Voice Guidepost to increase its market reach. Voice Guidepost 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Voice Guidepost can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Voice Guidepost can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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 Voice Guidepost can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Voice Guidepost to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Voice Guidepost 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 Communication segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Voice Guidepost has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Voice Guidepost to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" case study. Voice Guidepost can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Voice Guidepost 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.
Threats Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" are -
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 Voice Guidepost business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Voice Guidepost has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Voice Guidepost needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Voice Guidepost in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Voice Guidepost 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" .
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. Voice Guidepost needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Voice Guidepost 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Voice Guidepost 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 Voice Guidepost 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.
Environmental challenges
– Voice Guidepost 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. Voice Guidepost can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Voice Guidepost can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice", Voice Guidepost may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Caterpillar: Working to Establish "One Voice" 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 Voice Guidepost needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
