Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?
The Swedish Model--sometimes presented as a third way between savage capitalism and unrealistic socialism--was much lauded in the 1960s. It was viewed as a strategy that addressed social concerns while supporting economic growth. However, the financial and currency crisis of the early 1990s threw the model into doubt and prompted much soul searching and reform among Sweden's establishment. The welfare state introduced in Sweden imposed a high tax burden on individuals and business. By the late 1990s, some concerns were emerging that these costs were acting as a deterrent to doing business in Sweden. In an international market for labor and capital, Sweden was a less attractive home for high-flying MBAs or multinational companies than other countries.
Authors :: Huw Pill, Ingrid Vogel, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist
Swot Analysis of "Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?" written by Huw Pill, Ingrid Vogel, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sweden Welfare facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economics, Economy, Policy, Social enterprise and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sweden Welfare, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sweden Welfare 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sweden Welfare
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 Sweden Welfare
Strengths Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sweden Welfare in Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sweden Welfare has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sweden Welfare 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sweden Welfare 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.
High brand equity
– Sweden Welfare has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sweden Welfare to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sweden Welfare in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sweden Welfare digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sweden Welfare 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
– Sweden Welfare 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 Huw Pill, Ingrid Vogel, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sweden Welfare 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sweden Welfare is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sweden Welfare to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sweden Welfare to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Sweden Welfare 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 Sweden Welfare in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Sweden Welfare
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sweden Welfare does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sweden Welfare, firm in the HBR case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sweden Welfare 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sweden Welfare is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Sweden Welfare needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sweden Welfare to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sweden Welfare 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sweden Welfare has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sweden Welfare is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Sweden Welfare has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?, in the dynamic environment Sweden Welfare has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sweden Welfare has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Huw Pill, Ingrid Vogel, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist suggests that, Sweden Welfare 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?, it seems that the employees of Sweden Welfare 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?, 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.
Opportunities Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? | 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sweden Welfare 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. Sweden Welfare 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. Sweden Welfare 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.
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. Sweden Welfare can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sweden Welfare to increase its market reach. Sweden Welfare 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sweden Welfare 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sweden Welfare 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sweden Welfare 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Sweden Welfare can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sweden Welfare 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sweden Welfare 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 Sweden Welfare to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sweden Welfare 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 Sweden Welfare has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sweden Welfare to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? case study. Sweden Welfare can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sweden Welfare 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, Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? are -
Environmental challenges
– Sweden Welfare 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. Sweden Welfare can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Sweden Welfare in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Sweden Welfare needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Sweden Welfare can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Sweden Welfare business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sweden Welfare 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sweden Welfare 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sweden Welfare 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sweden Welfare 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.
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 Sweden Welfare.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sweden Welfare with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale?, Sweden Welfare 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sweden Welfare has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sweden Welfare 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness: Sweden Inc. for Sale? 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 Sweden Welfare needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
