The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
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 - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
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.
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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Ghosn Nissan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ghosn Nissan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ghosn Nissan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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 -
Need for greater diversity
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ghosn Nissan 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ghosn Nissan 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. Ghosn Nissan 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ghosn Nissan has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
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.
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.
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 Ghosn Nissan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ghosn Nissan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
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.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ghosn Nissan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ghosn Nissan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
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 -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ghosn Nissan 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 The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ghosn Nissan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ghosn Nissan 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 Ghosn Nissan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ghosn Nissan to increase its market reach. Ghosn Nissan 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.
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.
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. Ghosn Nissan 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. Ghosn Nissan 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
– Ghosn Nissan 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.
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ghosn Nissan 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.
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 Ghosn Nissan 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ghosn Nissan to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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.
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 -
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. Ghosn Nissan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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 Ghosn Nissan.
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.
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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ghosn Nissan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ghosn Nissan 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.
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.
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 Ghosn Nissan in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.