Swot Analysis of "Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7)" written by Luann J. Lynch, Jennifer Forman, Graham Gillam includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Handout 7 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Assessing performance, Balanced scorecard and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Handout 7, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Handout 7
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 Handout 7
Strengths Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Handout 7 in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Handout 7 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Handout 7 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 Luann J. Lynch, Jennifer Forman, Graham Gillam 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 recruit top talent
– Handout 7 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Handout 7 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Handout 7 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Handout 7 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 Handout 7 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Handout 7
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Handout 7 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Handout 7 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 Handout 7 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Handout 7 in the sector have low bargaining power. Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Handout 7 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Handout 7 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Handout 7 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Luann J. Lynch, Jennifer Forman, Graham Gillam suggests that, Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) HBR case study mentions - Handout 7 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Handout 7 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Handout 7 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 - Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Handout 7 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Handout 7 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Handout 7 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7), in the dynamic environment Handout 7 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Handout 7 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Handout 7 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. Handout 7 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7), 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Handout 7 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Handout 7 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Handout 7 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Handout 7 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.
Opportunities Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) | 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Handout 7 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Handout 7 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Handout 7 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) case study. Handout 7 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
– Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Handout 7 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Handout 7 in the consumer business. Now Handout 7 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Handout 7 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, Handout 7 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Handout 7 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Handout 7 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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. Handout 7 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Handout 7 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Handout 7 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 Handout 7 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.
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 Handout 7 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.
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. Handout 7 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. Handout 7 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.
Threats Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) are -
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. Handout 7 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Handout 7 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Handout 7 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Handout 7 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Handout 7 is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Handout 7 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Handout 7 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Handout 7 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Handout 7 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Handout 7 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.
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. Handout 7 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7), Handout 7 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 .
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 Handout 7 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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 Johansen's: The New Scorecard System-Southeast Regional Manager (Handout 7) 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 Handout 7 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.