Swot Analysis of "U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement" written by Thomas K. McCraw, Daniel A. Pope includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 1925 Gold facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 1925 Gold, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 1925 Gold 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 1925 Gold
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 1925 Gold
Strengths U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 1925 Gold in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– 1925 Gold is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– 1925 Gold has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled 1925 Gold to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped 1925 Gold to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– 1925 Gold is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– 1925 Gold 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 1925 Gold in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of 1925 Gold in the sector have low bargaining power. U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps 1925 Gold to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– 1925 Gold has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. 1925 Gold 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– 1925 Gold 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– 1925 Gold has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 1925 Gold to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement HBR case study mentions - 1925 Gold 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement, it seems that the employees of 1925 Gold 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, 1925 Gold 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement, 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Thomas K. McCraw, Daniel A. Pope suggests that, 1925 Gold 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 1925 Gold is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement, is just above the industry average. 1925 Gold 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though 1925 Gold 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 - U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at 1925 Gold 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, 1925 Gold has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on 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 1925 Gold supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left 1925 Gold vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement | 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help 1925 Gold to increase its market reach. 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold in the consumer business. Now 1925 Gold can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 1925 Gold 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.
Loyalty marketing
– 1925 Gold 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, 1925 Gold 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, 1925 Gold is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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.
Buying journey improvements
– 1925 Gold can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help 1925 Gold to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement case study. 1925 Gold can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 1925 Gold 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 1925 Gold to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– 1925 Gold 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for 1925 Gold 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement are -
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 1925 Gold 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 1925 Gold.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 1925 Gold has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 1925 Gold 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.
Environmental challenges
– 1925 Gold 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. 1925 Gold can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. 1925 Gold 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on 1925 Gold 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– 1925 Gold 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.
Regulatory challenges
– 1925 Gold 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 1925 Gold is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– 1925 Gold 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.
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 1925 Gold in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 U.K. and the Gold Standard in 1925, Supplement 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 1925 Gold needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.