Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel)
This sequel accompanies the case Tackling Poor Performance (1571.0). When Paulo Renato de Souza accepts an appointment to become Brazil's minister of education, he faces extreme challenges. Public education in Latin America's most populous nation is widely viewed as a failure. Brazil's vast population of poor children often attends schools that are both physically inadequate and have inadequate textbooks. His own department has seen a parade of ineffective leaders and has only indirect authority of state governments responsible for primary education. HKS Case Number 1571.1
Swot Analysis of "Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel)" written by Pamela Varley, Merilee Grindle includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Brazil's Education facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Financial management, Generational issues, Government, Leadership, Project management, Strategic planning and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization,
wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Brazil's Education, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Brazil's Education 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Brazil's Education
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Brazil's Education
Strengths Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Brazil's Education in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Brazil's Education 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 Pamela Varley, Merilee Grindle 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Brazil's Education digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Brazil's Education 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Brazil's Education is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Brazil's Education 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 Brazil's Education
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Brazil's Education does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Brazil's Education 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 Brazil's Education is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Brazil's Education has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Brazil's Education 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Brazil's Education 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Brazil's Education is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Brazil's Education has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 brand equity
– Brazil's Education has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Brazil's Education to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Brazil's Education 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Brazil's Education 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Brazil's Education 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil's Education, firm in the HBR case study Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Brazil's Education 's lucrative customers.
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 Brazil's Education supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Brazil's Education vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Brazil's Education 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. Brazil's Education 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Brazil's Education is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Brazil's Education products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Brazil's Education needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Brazil's Education has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Brazil's Education 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Brazil's Education 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.
Opportunities Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) | 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Brazil's Education 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Brazil's Education can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Brazil's Education in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Brazil's Education 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. Brazil's Education 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Brazil's Education can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Brazil's Education 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Brazil's Education has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Brazil's Education to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) case study. Brazil's Education can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Brazil's Education can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Brazil's Education can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Brazil's Education 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 Brazil's Education to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Brazil's Education can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Brazil's Education can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Brazil's Education operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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 Brazil's Education 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.
Threats Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Brazil's Education 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 Brazil's Education business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Brazil's Education needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Brazil's Education 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. Brazil's Education can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing wage structure of Brazil's Education
– 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 Brazil's Education.
Regulatory challenges
– Brazil's Education 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Brazil's Education with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Brazil's Education is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Brazil's Education has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Brazil's Education needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
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 Brazil's Education.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel), Brazil's Education may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Brazil's Education 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Tackling Poor Performance, Extreme Inequality, Public Complaisance: Brazil's Education Minister Forges a New Role for the Ministry (Sequel) 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 Brazil's Education needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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