Case Study Description of Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61
Describes the evolution of U.S. fiscal policy from its theoretical conception with Keynes in the 1930s to its implementation in the tax cut of 1964. Focuses on the political and ideological obstacles to the use of countercyclical policy as well as the success of the Employment Act of 1946.
Swot Analysis of "Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61" written by Thomas K. McCraw, Daniel A. Pope includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Policy Fiscal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Policy Fiscal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Policy Fiscal 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Policy Fiscal
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 Policy Fiscal
Strengths Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Policy Fiscal in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Policy Fiscal in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Policy Fiscal 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 Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Policy Fiscal 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 Policy Fiscal
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Policy Fiscal 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 Policy Fiscal in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Policy Fiscal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Policy Fiscal is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Policy Fiscal has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Policy Fiscal to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Policy Fiscal has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Policy Fiscal digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Policy Fiscal 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.
Analytics focus
– Policy Fiscal 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 Thomas K. McCraw, Daniel A. Pope can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Policy Fiscal 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 Policy Fiscal in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Policy Fiscal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Policy Fiscal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 HBR case study mentions - Policy Fiscal 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Policy Fiscal 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Policy Fiscal 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 - Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Policy Fiscal 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. Policy Fiscal 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Policy Fiscal is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Policy Fiscal 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Policy Fiscal, firm in the HBR case study Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Policy Fiscal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Policy Fiscal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Policy Fiscal 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Thomas K. McCraw, Daniel A. Pope suggests that, Policy Fiscal 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.
Opportunities Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 | 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Policy Fiscal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Policy Fiscal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 case study. Policy Fiscal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Policy Fiscal can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Policy Fiscal 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. Policy Fiscal 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Policy Fiscal 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.
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 Policy Fiscal in the consumer business. Now Policy Fiscal can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Policy Fiscal 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Policy Fiscal to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Policy Fiscal is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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.
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 Policy Fiscal 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.
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. Policy Fiscal can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Policy Fiscal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Policy Fiscal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Policy Fiscal can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Policy Fiscal operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Policy Fiscal 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.
Threats Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 are -
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.
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 Policy Fiscal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Policy Fiscal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Policy Fiscal 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61, Policy Fiscal 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Policy Fiscal
– 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 Policy Fiscal.
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 Policy Fiscal in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Policy Fiscal 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 .
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. Policy Fiscal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Policy Fiscal.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Policy Fiscal 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Policy Fiscal 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
– Policy Fiscal high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Fiscal Policy--1937-61 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 Policy Fiscal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
