The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan
This is a Thunderbird Case Study.In 1999, after posting losses in eight of the preceding nine years, Nissan seeks a partnership with Renault. At the request of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn is appointed COO. Ghosn, a Frenchman with Brazilian-Lebanese heritage, who has spent much of his career in Michelin in Latin America and the US, has earned the nickname "Le Cost-Killer" during his tenure at Renault. Despite his multi-cultural background, he speaks no Japanese and has no Asian experience. His charter, however, is to quickly turn around the ailing Japanese car-maker, with all the unique challenges of leading change as a foreigner in Japan. His commits to doing it within three years or resigning. Enlisting middle management, he uses solid change management techniques and is successful, but now must confront the process of institutionalizing his initial successes and planning for a successor.
Swot Analysis of "The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan" written by John P. Millikin, Dean Fu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ghosn Nissan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Succession planning and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ghosn Nissan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ghosn Nissan
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 Ghosn Nissan
Strengths The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ghosn Nissan in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Ghosn Nissan 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 John P. Millikin, Dean Fu 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.
Training and development
– Ghosn Nissan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ghosn Nissan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Ghosn Nissan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ghosn Nissan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Ghosn Nissan 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 Ghosn Nissan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Ghosn Nissan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ghosn Nissan 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ghosn Nissan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ghosn Nissan 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ghosn Nissan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ghosn Nissan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ghosn Nissan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ghosn Nissan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ghosn Nissan 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 - The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ghosn Nissan, firm in the HBR case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 Ghosn Nissan 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan, in the dynamic environment Ghosn Nissan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ghosn Nissan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ghosn Nissan 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan, is just above the industry average. Ghosn Nissan 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ghosn Nissan is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 Ghosn Nissan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ghosn Nissan 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John P. Millikin, Dean Fu suggests that, Ghosn Nissan 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan HBR case study mentions - Ghosn Nissan takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Opportunities The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan | 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ghosn Nissan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ghosn Nissan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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 Ghosn Nissan in the consumer business. Now Ghosn Nissan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
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. Ghosn Nissan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ghosn Nissan 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. Ghosn Nissan 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
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ghosn Nissan 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ghosn Nissan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ghosn Nissan 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, The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ghosn Nissan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ghosn Nissan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan are -
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. Ghosn Nissan 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ghosn Nissan 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ghosn Nissan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ghosn Nissan 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ghosn Nissan 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. Ghosn Nissan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Ghosn Nissan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ghosn Nissan is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan, Ghosn Nissan 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 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 Ghosn Nissan
– 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 Ghosn Nissan.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan 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 Ghosn Nissan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
