What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A)
This is a Darden case study.In 1999, Lesotho, a tiny African country about the size of Maryland or Belgium, faced a huge undertaking. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), one of the world's biggest engineering and infrastructure projects. Slated to benefit the country in many ways, it was beset by allegations of corruption. At the center of this scandal was Lesotho official Masupha Ephraim Sole, accused of taking bribes during the first years of the project from numerous companies involved in the construction. In addition to prosecuting Sole, Lesotho was considering the almost unthinkable: mounting a criminal prosecution against the multinational companies--in a Lesotho court--that allegedly had bribed Sole. This would, in every way, be a Sisyphean task. This is a four-case series, labeled A through D, UV1142 through UV1145.
Authors :: Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead, Mollie Painter-Moreland
Swot Analysis of "What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A)" written by Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead, Mollie Painter-Moreland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lesotho Sole facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Ethics and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lesotho Sole, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lesotho Sole 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lesotho Sole
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 Lesotho Sole
Strengths What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lesotho Sole in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lesotho Sole has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lesotho Sole 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Lesotho Sole 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 Lesotho Sole 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 Lesotho Sole has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lesotho Sole is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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
– Lesotho Sole 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 Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead, Mollie Painter-Moreland 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.
High brand equity
– Lesotho Sole has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lesotho Sole to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Lesotho Sole is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Lesotho Sole 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 Lesotho Sole is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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.
Training and development
– Lesotho Sole has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lesotho Sole 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lesotho Sole in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lesotho Sole is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Lesotho Sole supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lesotho Sole vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lesotho Sole 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Lesotho Sole 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lesotho Sole 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A), it seems that the employees of Lesotho Sole 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lesotho Sole is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Lesotho Sole 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lesotho Sole 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. Lesotho Sole 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) HBR case study mentions - Lesotho Sole 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lesotho Sole products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lesotho Sole needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) | 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lesotho Sole 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Lesotho Sole 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lesotho Sole has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lesotho Sole to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) case study. Lesotho Sole can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lesotho Sole 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lesotho Sole 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lesotho Sole to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Lesotho Sole can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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.
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. Lesotho Sole can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Lesotho Sole 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.
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. Lesotho Sole can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lesotho Sole to increase its market reach. Lesotho Sole 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.
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 Lesotho Sole in the consumer business. Now Lesotho Sole can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lesotho Sole 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.
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 Lesotho Sole 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.
Threats What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lesotho Sole 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lesotho Sole can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Lesotho Sole 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. Lesotho Sole can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Lesotho Sole
– 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 Lesotho Sole.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lesotho Sole with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Lesotho Sole 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.
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 Lesotho Sole.
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 Lesotho Sole 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 Lesotho Sole 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lesotho Sole 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.
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. Lesotho Sole needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A), Lesotho Sole 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (A) 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 Lesotho Sole needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
