Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key
The impressive growth in web-mediated organizational relationships has created an escalating interest in how to manage virtual teams successfully. As organizations increasingly expect their managers to lead employees in these online groupings, it becomes imperative to identify and train them in the skills to do this effectively. The purpose of this article is to organize and present strategies that organizations have found successful in helping their managers lead virtual teams. While all successful managers must ensure that they have provided the basic organizational support for their employees, especially effective leaders also ensure they build trustworthy relationships. Thus, we emphasize how each strategy contributes to building and sustaining a climate of trust in virtual teams.
Authors :: Robert C. Ford, Ronald F. Piccolo, Loren R. Ford
Swot Analysis of "Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key" written by Robert C. Ford, Ronald F. Piccolo, Loren R. Ford includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Virtual Teams facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Leading teams and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Virtual Teams, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Virtual Teams
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 Virtual Teams
Strengths Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Virtual Teams in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Virtual Teams has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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
– Virtual Teams has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Virtual Teams to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Virtual Teams to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Virtual Teams to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Virtual Teams in the sector have low bargaining power. Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Virtual Teams to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Virtual Teams 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Virtual Teams is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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.
Organizational Resilience of Virtual Teams
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Virtual Teams does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Virtual Teams 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)
– Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Virtual Teams has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Virtual Teams 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.
Learning organization
- Virtual Teams 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 Virtual Teams is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert C. Ford, Ronald F. Piccolo, Loren R. Ford suggests that, Virtual Teams 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Virtual Teams has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Virtual Teams is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Virtual Teams needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Virtual Teams to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Virtual Teams, firm in the HBR case study Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key HBR case study mentions - Virtual Teams 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Virtual Teams 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key, in the dynamic environment Virtual Teams has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Virtual Teams has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Virtual Teams products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Virtual Teams needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Virtual Teams 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Virtual Teams is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Virtual Teams 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. Virtual Teams 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.
Opportunities Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key | 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Virtual Teams 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Virtual Teams 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Virtual Teams 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.
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 Virtual Teams in the consumer business. Now Virtual Teams can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Virtual Teams 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, Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Virtual Teams can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Virtual Teams to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Virtual Teams 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. Virtual Teams 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Virtual Teams can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Virtual Teams operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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. Virtual Teams can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Virtual Teams 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Virtual Teams 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.
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 Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Virtual Teams 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Virtual Teams 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.
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. Virtual Teams can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Virtual Teams
– 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 Virtual Teams.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Virtual Teams 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Virtual Teams is facing in Global Business 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.
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 Virtual Teams 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. Virtual Teams needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key, Virtual Teams 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 .
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 Virtual Teams.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Virtual Teams 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 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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 Strategies for Building Effective Virtual Teams: Trust is Key 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 Virtual Teams needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.