Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game
In 2006, Thomas Schiller, a managing director of Arthur D Little ("ADL"), arrived in hazy Beijing with a crystal clear objective: to resurrect a consultant practice that lacked brand recognition in China. Despite success and renown around the world for its technology-focused consultancy business, ADL's first attempt at the Chinese market in early 2000s was hamstrung by its global restructuring. Was there a magical key to unlocking the giant market that had eluded Schiller's predecessor? How could Schiller ensure success for the practice in China?
Swot Analysis of "Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game" written by Marcus Scheutz, Ricky Lai includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Schiller Arthur facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Competition, Competitive strategy, Economy, International business, Sales and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Schiller Arthur, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Schiller Arthur 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Schiller Arthur
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 Schiller Arthur
Strengths Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Schiller Arthur in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Schiller Arthur has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Schiller Arthur has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Schiller Arthur 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Schiller Arthur 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.
Learning organization
- Schiller Arthur 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 Schiller Arthur is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Schiller Arthur is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Schiller Arthur is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Schiller Arthur to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Schiller Arthur to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Schiller Arthur has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Schiller Arthur 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Schiller Arthur digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Schiller Arthur 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Schiller Arthur 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Schiller Arthur 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 Marcus Scheutz, Ricky Lai 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.
Weaknesses Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Schiller Arthur is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Schiller Arthur needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Schiller Arthur to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marcus Scheutz, Ricky Lai suggests that, Schiller Arthur 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Schiller Arthur 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game, it seems that the employees of Schiller Arthur 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game, is just above the industry average. Schiller Arthur 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Schiller Arthur 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game, in the dynamic environment Schiller Arthur has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Schiller Arthur has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Schiller Arthur 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, Schiller Arthur is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Schiller Arthur, firm in the HBR case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game | 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game are -
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Schiller Arthur can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Schiller Arthur can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Schiller Arthur can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Schiller Arthur 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Schiller Arthur can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Schiller Arthur operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Schiller Arthur 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, Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Schiller Arthur can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Schiller Arthur is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Schiller Arthur has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Schiller Arthur to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game case study. Schiller Arthur can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Schiller Arthur 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Threats Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game are -
Regulatory challenges
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Environmental challenges
– Schiller Arthur 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. Schiller Arthur can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Schiller Arthur 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 Schiller Arthur is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Schiller Arthur 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Schiller Arthur 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Schiller Arthur has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Schiller Arthur 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.
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. Schiller Arthur can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Schiller Arthur 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Schiller Arthur in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing wage structure of Schiller Arthur
– 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 Schiller Arthur.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Arthur D. Little in China: A Whole New Ball Game 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 Schiller Arthur needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
