Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc.
Defense is big business, especially for companies like Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin, formed in 1995 through the merger of Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta, was one of the largest defense contractors in the world, employing about 140,000 worldwide. Lockheed Martin was considering the acquisition of NationScape, Inc., a firm that supports U.S. military readiness, diplomatic and development efforts, and peacekeeping, stabilization and nation building activities in more than 65 countries around the world. The acquisition could increase Lockheed Martin's overseas defense support operations and expand its capabilities to provide diplomatic and development services to complement its existing defense business. The corporation needed to determine an appropriate price for the acquisition and evaluate whether the acquisition would be a good strategic and cultural fit for the corporation as well.
Swot Analysis of "Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc." written by Susan A. White includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lockheed Martin facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lockheed Martin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lockheed Martin
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 Lockheed Martin
Strengths Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lockheed Martin in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lockheed Martin has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lockheed Martin 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.
Training and development
– Lockheed Martin has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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)
– Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 brand equity
– Lockheed Martin has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lockheed Martin to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lockheed Martin is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Lockheed Martin 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 Susan A. White 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lockheed Martin is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin in the sector have low bargaining power. Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lockheed Martin to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lockheed Martin to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lockheed Martin to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Lockheed Martin products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lockheed Martin needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lockheed Martin, firm in the HBR case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lockheed Martin has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lockheed Martin is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lockheed Martin 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 - Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc., in the dynamic environment Lockheed Martin has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lockheed Martin has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc., it seems that the employees of Lockheed Martin 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lockheed Martin is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Lockheed Martin needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lockheed Martin to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lockheed Martin is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Susan A. White suggests that, Lockheed Martin 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.
Opportunities Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. | 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. are -
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. Lockheed Martin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lockheed Martin 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin 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, Lockheed Martin can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lockheed Martin operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Lockheed Martin 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.
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. Lockheed Martin can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Lockheed Martin can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lockheed Martin 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lockheed Martin is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Lockheed Martin 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin 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.
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. Lockheed Martin 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. Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. are -
Increasing wage structure of Lockheed Martin
– 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 Lockheed Martin.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. .
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. Lockheed Martin 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.
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. Lockheed Martin needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lockheed Martin is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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. Lockheed Martin can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lockheed Martin 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Lockheed Martin 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 Lockheed Martin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Lockheed Martin in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lockheed Martin has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lockheed Martin 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc., Lockheed Martin 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin's Acquisition of NationScape, Inc. 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 Lockheed Martin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.