Who Is This Guy? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Who Is This Guy?
As chair of the accounting department at Southern Regional University (SRU), Professor David Evans recently hired a seemingly promising young assistant professor of accounting. Evans has now received some very disturbing information regarding this faculty member. The information was that this new hire does not possess the academic nor professional credentials he claimed. As a result, Evans was in a near panic as to what action he should recommend. He contemplated his options, which were: denounce this fraud and fire him immediately; quietly terminate him and make a vague announcement about his unexpected departure; or allow this individual to finish the term and not renew his contract. Evans weighed the reaction of the university community, the public, and the results for himself. In case B in the Instructor's Manual the recommendation Evans made to the academic vice president was accepted and acted upon. This decision in turn had second order consequences for organizations outside of SRU. In case C there were third order consequences of a serious and personal nature for another member of the accounting department.
Authors :: Dalton E. Brannen, Simon K. Medcalfe, Roland B. Cousins
Swot Analysis of "Who Is This Guy?" written by Dalton E. Brannen, Simon K. Medcalfe, Roland B. Cousins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Evans Sru facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Who Is This Guy? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Hiring, Human resource management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Who Is This Guy? casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Who Is This Guy? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Evans Sru, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Evans Sru 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 Who Is This Guy? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Who Is This Guy? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Evans Sru
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Evans Sru
Strengths Who Is This Guy? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Evans Sru in Who Is This Guy? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Evans Sru 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 Who Is This Guy? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Evans Sru has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Who Is This Guy? 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Evans Sru is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Evans Sru has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Evans Sru to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Evans Sru digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Evans Sru 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Who Is This Guy? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Evans Sru to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Evans Sru to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Evans Sru in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Evans Sru is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Who Is This Guy? 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
– Evans Sru 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 Dalton E. Brannen, Simon K. Medcalfe, Roland B. Cousins 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 Global Business field
– Evans Sru 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 Evans Sru in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Who Is This Guy? 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Evans Sru is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Who Is This Guy? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Who Is This Guy? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Who Is This Guy? are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Who Is This Guy? 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 Evans Sru 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Who Is This Guy?, in the dynamic environment Evans Sru has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Evans Sru has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Evans Sru supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Who Is This Guy?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Evans Sru vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Evans Sru is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Who Is This Guy? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Evans Sru 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dalton E. Brannen, Simon K. Medcalfe, Roland B. Cousins suggests that, Evans Sru 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Evans Sru products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Evans Sru needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Evans Sru has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Who Is This Guy?, it seems that the employees of Evans Sru 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 Who Is This Guy? 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 Evans Sru has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Evans Sru 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 - Who Is This Guy? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Who Is This Guy? | 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 Who Is This Guy? are -
Buying journey improvements
– Evans Sru can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Who Is This Guy? 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Evans Sru 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Evans Sru 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 Evans Sru to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Evans Sru has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Evans Sru to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Who Is This Guy? case study. Evans Sru can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Evans Sru in the consumer business. Now Evans Sru can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Evans Sru 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 Global Business segment.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Evans Sru can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Evans Sru can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Evans Sru to increase its market reach. Evans Sru 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Evans Sru 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, Evans Sru is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Who Is This Guy? 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Evans Sru 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 Who Is This Guy? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Evans Sru to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Evans Sru 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, Who Is This Guy?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Who Is This Guy? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Who Is This Guy? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Evans Sru with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Evans Sru needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Evans Sru 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.
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 Evans Sru business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Evans Sru.
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. Evans Sru 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Evans Sru 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.
Environmental challenges
– Evans Sru 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. Evans Sru can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Evans Sru
– 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 Evans Sru.
Regulatory challenges
– Evans Sru 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 Global Business industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Evans Sru 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Who Is This Guy? 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 Who Is This Guy? 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 Who Is This Guy? 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 Who Is This Guy? 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 Who Is This Guy? 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 Evans Sru needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.