Each year in March, 800 delegates from 60 countries convene for the Skoll World Forum, a gathering of the world's leading social entrepreneurs organized by the Skoll Foundation. Prominent figures from the social, academic, finance, corporate and policy sectors engage for three days of debates, discussions and work sessions focused on scaling solutions to some of the world's most pressing issues. This article summarizes one of the panels, "Leadership for Change," which featured five prominent business leaders/social entrepreneurs: Hasbro's Chairman Alan Hassenfeld; Cisco's Senoir VP, Corporate Affairs, Tae Yoo; Amamex International's Founder and CEO, Fadi Ghandour; Pitney Bowes' past Executive Chairman Michael Critelli; and Intel's General Manager, Sustainability, William Swope. Each discusses their organization's approach to CSR, sample initiatives and leadership lessons.
Authors :: Alan Hassenfeld, Tae Yoo, Fadi Ghandour, Michael J. Critelli
Swot Analysis of "Leadership for Change" written by Alan Hassenfeld, Tae Yoo, Fadi Ghandour, Michael J. Critelli includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Skoll Prominent facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership for Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership for Change casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership for Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership for Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Skoll Prominent, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Skoll Prominent 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 Leadership for Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership for Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Skoll Prominent
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 Skoll Prominent
Strengths Leadership for Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Skoll Prominent in Leadership for Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Skoll Prominent 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 Leadership for Change HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Skoll Prominent in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Leadership for Change firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Skoll Prominent to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Skoll Prominent to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Skoll Prominent
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Skoll Prominent does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Skoll Prominent is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Skoll Prominent 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 Skoll Prominent is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leadership for Change Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Skoll Prominent has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Leadership for Change 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Skoll Prominent is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leadership for Change Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Skoll Prominent is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Skoll Prominent in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Skoll Prominent 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 Alan Hassenfeld, Tae Yoo, Fadi Ghandour, Michael J. Critelli 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 Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Skoll Prominent digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Skoll Prominent 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Leadership for Change 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.
Weaknesses Leadership for Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership for Change are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Skoll Prominent is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Skoll Prominent needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Skoll Prominent to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Skoll Prominent supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Leadership for Change, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Skoll Prominent vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership for Change, it seems that the employees of Skoll Prominent don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Leadership for Change, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership for Change, is just above the industry average. Skoll Prominent 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Skoll Prominent is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Leadership for Change can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Skoll Prominent 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Skoll Prominent 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Leadership for Change 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 Skoll Prominent 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Skoll Prominent 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. Skoll Prominent 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Alan Hassenfeld, Tae Yoo, Fadi Ghandour, Michael J. Critelli suggests that, Skoll Prominent 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.
Opportunities Leadership for Change | 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 Leadership for Change are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Skoll Prominent is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leadership for Change 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Skoll Prominent 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Skoll Prominent 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Skoll Prominent can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Skoll Prominent 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 Skoll Prominent to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Skoll Prominent to increase its market reach. Skoll Prominent 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Skoll Prominent 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.
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. Skoll Prominent can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Skoll Prominent 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 Leadership for Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Skoll Prominent to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Skoll Prominent 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Skoll Prominent has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Skoll Prominent to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leadership for Change case study. Skoll Prominent can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Skoll Prominent 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.
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 Skoll Prominent in the consumer business. Now Skoll Prominent can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Leadership for Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership for Change are -
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 Skoll Prominent.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Skoll Prominent in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing wage structure of Skoll Prominent
– 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 Skoll Prominent.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Skoll Prominent 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 Leadership for Change .
Regulatory challenges
– Skoll Prominent 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Skoll Prominent 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.
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 Skoll Prominent in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Skoll Prominent 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.
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. Skoll Prominent can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Leadership for Change, Skoll Prominent 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Skoll Prominent is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Skoll Prominent needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Skoll Prominent 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leadership for Change 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 Leadership for Change 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 Leadership for Change 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 Leadership for Change 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 Leadership for Change 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 Skoll Prominent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
