Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.A vehicle for the discussion of a very important set of institutional arrangements that helped enable America to mobilize its economy for World War II.
Swot Analysis of "Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II" written by Richard S. Tedlow, Robert D. Cuff includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that War Ii facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Economy, Government, Manufacturing, Strategic planning and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the War Ii, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which War Ii 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of War Ii
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 War Ii
Strengths Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of War Ii in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of War Ii
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that War Ii does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– War Ii is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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.
Innovation driven organization
– War Ii is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– War Ii has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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.
Learning organization
- War Ii 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 War Ii is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the War Ii 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.
Analytics focus
– War Ii 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 Richard S. Tedlow, Robert D. Cuff 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of War Ii 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 War Ii digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. War Ii 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled War Ii to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped War Ii to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– War Ii 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 War Ii in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– War Ii 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though War Ii 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 - Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of War Ii is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. War Ii needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help War Ii to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, War Ii 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. War Ii 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, War Ii 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II, it seems that the employees of War Ii 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.
Need for greater diversity
– War Ii 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Richard S. Tedlow, Robert D. Cuff suggests that, War Ii 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as War Ii is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, War Ii is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of War Ii, firm in the HBR case study Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 War Ii supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left War Ii vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II | 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help War Ii to increase its market reach. War Ii 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 War Ii in the consumer business. Now War Ii can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of War Ii has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help War Ii to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II case study. War Ii can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. War Ii 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. War Ii 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
– War Ii 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 War Ii 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.
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. War Ii can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– War Ii 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help War Ii to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, War Ii 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.
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. War Ii can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– War Ii can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– War Ii 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects War Ii can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II, War Ii 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, War Ii 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II .
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.
Increasing wage structure of War Ii
– 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 War Ii.
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 War Ii 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– War Ii 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
– War Ii 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on War Ii 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that War Ii is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents War Ii with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– War Ii 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.
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 War Ii business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II 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 War Ii needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II