Swot Analysis of "Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?" written by Yasheng Huang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Diamonds Civil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development, Government and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diamonds Civil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diamonds Civil 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diamonds Civil
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 Diamonds Civil
Strengths Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diamonds Civil in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Diamonds Civil 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
– Diamonds Civil is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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.
Training and development
– Diamonds Civil has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Diamonds Civil in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Diamonds Civil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Diamonds Civil digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Diamonds Civil 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Diamonds Civil 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.
Organizational Resilience of Diamonds Civil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Diamonds Civil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Diamonds Civil to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Diamonds Civil to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Diamonds Civil 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 Diamonds Civil in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Diamonds Civil 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Diamonds Civil 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?, it seems that the employees of Diamonds Civil 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Diamonds Civil 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Diamonds Civil 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. Diamonds Civil 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Diamonds Civil 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? HBR case study mentions - Diamonds Civil 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.
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 Diamonds Civil supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Diamonds Civil vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Diamonds Civil, firm in the HBR case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Diamonds Civil 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Diamonds Civil 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?, in the dynamic environment Diamonds Civil has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Diamonds Civil has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Diamonds Civil is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? | 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Diamonds Civil 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Diamonds Civil has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Diamonds Civil to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? case study. Diamonds Civil can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Diamonds Civil 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Diamonds Civil 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diamonds Civil to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Diamonds Civil 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Diamonds Civil can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Diamonds Civil operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Diamonds Civil 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. Diamonds Civil can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Diamonds Civil to increase its market reach. Diamonds Civil 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Diamonds Civil is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Diamonds Civil 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, Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Diamonds Civil in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Diamonds Civil can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Diamonds Civil 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.
Threats Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Diamonds Civil 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? .
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 Diamonds Civil in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Diamonds Civil needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business 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. Diamonds Civil 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Diamonds Civil has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Diamonds Civil needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Diamonds Civil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Diamonds Civil 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 wage structure of Diamonds Civil
– 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 Diamonds Civil.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Diamonds Civil 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever?, Diamonds Civil may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Diamonds Civil 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.
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 Diamonds Civil.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Note on Conflict Diamonds: Why Are Civil Wars, Like Diamonds, Forever? 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 Diamonds Civil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
