What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B)
This is a Darden case study."People are quick to point the finger at Africa but if someone is taking the money then someone is paying it and they must be held accountable too. You can see from this case that it is not only Africa that is corrupt," said Lesotho's Attorney General Fine Maema. This summed up the Lesotho government's approach to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) scandal. Determined to splinter the stereotype of all African countries being riddled with corruption, Lesotho wanted to go after the multinationals who had bribed the project's ex-CEO, Masupha Sole. The trials would be lengthy and highly expensive, and Lesotho needed financial support. 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? (B)" 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 Splinter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B)
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? (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lesotho Splinter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lesotho Splinter 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? (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lesotho Splinter
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 Splinter
Strengths What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lesotho Splinter in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lesotho Splinter to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lesotho Splinter to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Lesotho Splinter 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 Splinter 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
– Lesotho Splinter has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lesotho Splinter 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lesotho Splinter has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lesotho Splinter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lesotho Splinter is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lesotho Splinter 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lesotho Splinter digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lesotho Splinter 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.
Learning organization
- Lesotho Splinter 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 Splinter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B) 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.
Organizational Resilience of Lesotho Splinter
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lesotho Splinter does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lesotho Splinter in the sector have low bargaining power. What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lesotho Splinter to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) | 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? (B) are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lesotho Splinter is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Lesotho Splinter needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lesotho Splinter to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lesotho Splinter has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lesotho Splinter 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lesotho Splinter 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 - What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) HBR case study mentions - Lesotho Splinter 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B), is just above the industry average. Lesotho Splinter needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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 Lesotho Splinter has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lesotho Splinter is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B), in the dynamic environment Lesotho Splinter has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lesotho Splinter has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) | 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? (B) are -
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 Splinter can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lesotho Splinter 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? (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lesotho Splinter to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lesotho Splinter 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.
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 Splinter 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lesotho Splinter to increase its market reach. Lesotho Splinter 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lesotho Splinter 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, What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lesotho Splinter is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lesotho Splinter can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lesotho Splinter 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lesotho Splinter 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 Lesotho Splinter to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B) are -
Environmental challenges
– Lesotho Splinter 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 Splinter can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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? (B), Lesotho Splinter 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 .
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 Splinter can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Lesotho Splinter
– 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 Splinter.
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 Splinter business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lesotho Splinter 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lesotho Splinter 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lesotho Splinter has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lesotho Splinter 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lesotho Splinter in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lesotho Splinter 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 What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) .
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 Splinter 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.
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 Splinter in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of What Can a Mosquito Do to an Elephant? (B) 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? (B) 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? (B) 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? (B) 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? (B) 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 Splinter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
